K-9 officer Dash wounded in shootout and airlifted to animal hospital

HANFORD, Calif. (KFSN) -- Dash is recovering from a bullet wound to his right hind leg. Dr. Carrie Strickland is managing his care.

"He is doing quite well, considering, postoperatively he sustained some pretty ugly wounds," explained Dr. Strickland, "The injury was a deep penetrating wound of the soft tissue and we did have to do some extensive surgery to close."

Dash was shot in the line of duty, outside of Lemoore Sunday night his handler, a Kings County Sheriff's deputy was using him to try and arrest a murder suspect, who would not get out of his vehicle.

RELATED:Two dead, K9 shot during Kings Co officer involved shooting

"Upon approaching the suspect with the K-9 the suspect exited the vehicle and began firing at our officers," said CDR Mark Bevens.

Dash was shot and wounded by the suspect, who was then shot and killed by the other officers. A highway patrol helicopter flew Dash to Fresno, where he underwent emergency surgery.

Dr. Strickland said, "It is difficult to see this kind of injury. We have seen worse, you know I think he is going to eventually recover from this and fingers crossed to get back to what he does best."

Dr. Strickland adds he is a good patient, "Dash is an exceptional dog, he is very easy to work with, he is a very sweet and gentle soul. So it definitely makes our job a lot easier."

Dash is one of four German Shepherds part of the Kings County K-9 team. Each dog costs about 10,000 dollars, and they were purchased and trained with money donated by the community.

The doctor is optimistic Dash will make a full recovery, he is healthy, less than two years old but he will need care for the next two or three months.