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Died – 6/23/19
Handler – Deputy Andrew Marcum
Deputy mourns the loss of canine partner
Guadalupe County K9 Deputy Andrew Marcum had only known his partner for a short while before the canine officer suddenly died. Canine Rex was six years old when he was found dead in his kennel about 8 p.m. on Sunday. The loss struck Marcum and his family incredibly hard. “He bonded really well with my family,” Marcum said. “He came into my family pretty quickly and he was really good with my kids and my wife. My kid is only a year-and-a-half and (Rex) was phenomenal with him. I enjoyed that he was able to treat my kid so well and my kid was able to be around him so much.” The canine was born on Sept. 23, 2013 and joined the Guadalupe County Sheriff’s Office in 2014, having worked with different handlers, prior to being paired with Marcum two months ago. Marcum and Rex had just finished training and certifying to hit the streets as a duo two days prior to the dog’s death on Sunday. “He’s a unique dog,” Marcum said. “He was a high energy dog who was always eager to work for myself and the other handlers. He is really good with all of the patrol guys. I would bring him into the office and he would love on everyone. He knew who friends were and he knew when it was time to work. He was definitely happy to be around the people he worked with.” During his time with the department, Marcum said Rex had a successful career.“I know he has assisted in multiple narcotics operations and has done quite a bit of and has done quite a bit of interstate interdiction,” Marcum said. “He’s worked to get a lot of illegal narcotics off the road. I don’t know specific weights or loads. He has successfully tracked down someone who had run from police. He was very happy to do his job and you could tell he enjoyed doing his job.” Guadalupe County Sheriff Arnold Zwicke said a necropsy was performed on Monday and showed Rex died of natural causes. Losing his partner at a young age is hard, Marcum said. “I don’t know how I’m going to do it, but I’m just taking it one day at a time and hopefully the next dog can be as good as him and have that same kind of bond,” he said. “I wish he would have been able to finish out his career, retire and live the good life. He was still pretty young. He’s been a good partner. He’ll be missed.” A memorial service for Rex has not yet been set.
