Dade County Sheriff’s Office K9 Officer Rocco / Photo from the Dade County Sheriff’s Office Facebook page Rocco, the Dade County Sheriff’s Office K9 officer who jumped out of a patrol car earlier this week, will undergo surgery at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville on Monday.
The department announced in a Facebook post this morning that Rocco has a broken bone in one of his legs, torn ligaments and abrasions. The veterinarians will treat the area with antibiotics over the weekend before he undergoes surgery.
The veterinarians will also put an implant in his leg, hoping to speed up his recovery.
On Wednesday, according to the department, Rocco jumped out of a patrol car driving up Interstate 59, toward a crash. An officer saw him near the split with Interstate 24 before Rocco ran out of view.
Residents who volunteered to search for the dog found him Thursday. Sheriff Ray Cross said Rocco managed to jump out of the car because of a “malfunction” in the door. He said the department will fix the problem.
“Sheriff Cross wants to thank all Public Safety Agencies who assisted in the search, as well as every citizen who gave their personal time to look, share our post, and offer thoughts and prayers,” a spokesman for the department said in a Facebook post.