Died – 7/25/19
Handler – Deputy Robert Ochoa
Retired police dog Windy dies. Bloodhound spent five years with sheriff’s department
A Riverside County Sheriff’s Department police dog died Thursday after retiring two weeks ago due to an illness. Windy, a human-tracking bloodhound, served with the sheriff’s department for five years. “Goodbye Windy, we already miss you, and we will take the watch from here,” the sheriff’s department said in a news release. Windy began serving with her handler, Deputy Robert Ochoa, in May 2014 at 7 weeks old. Throughout her career, Windy helped find suspects, solve violent crimes and reunite family members. This year, Windy had faced several illnesses and retired to her handler’s home earlier this month. “She had developed a reputation throughout the Inland Empire and surrounding law enforcement agencies as an excellent working dog for locating those who are missing and those who are hiding,” the sheriff’s department wrote. “Her career, like her personality, was nothing short of stellar.” “Every stressful situation her handler entered, Windy went into first,” the department wrote. “She faced the same dangers her handler did, before he did, to ultimately keep her handler and his partners safe. She spent more time with her handler than her handler spent with his family.”