WATCH – Texas Police Department Celebrates Retirement of Only K-9: ‘You Make Us Proud!’

“But there’s no better feeling than when somebody’s trying to get away and you use a living breathing thing to go find it,” Heilman explained.

The department announced Officer Rico’s retirement in a social media post on Wednesday, saying the time had finally come.

“Our K9 Officer, RICO, is retiring after 8 years of service with the Port Neches Police Department. We are sad to see him hang up his harness, but his retirement is well deserved!” the department continued:

“Rico’s retirement will be made official at tomorrow’s 4:00pm City Council meeting, after which we will have a recognition ceremony for him at the station,” the agency stated.

Social media users congratulated the K-9 on achieving his goal, one person writing, “Enjoy retirement Officer Rico!”

“Congratulations, Rico! You make us proud!” another commented.

During his time with the department, Officer Rico was deployed 114 times, nabbed nearly 8,000 grams of meth, and retrieved over $450,000, per the 12 News report.

Disciplines for a police dog include apprehension, detection, along with search and rescue, according to the American Kennel Club’s (AKC) website.

“Human law enforcement officers need to be a special type of person, and police dogs must be a special type of dog. These impressive animals come from generations of dogs specifically bred to perform the complicated tasks that police dogs are required to accomplish,” the organization said.

At the recent celebration, Rico was showered with dog treats and tennis balls. He worked his last shift on Friday.

Now, he will spend a lot of time relaxing on the porch, and “He’s going to be able to run and do whatever he wants to do when he wants to do it,” according to Heilman, who will meet his next canine partner, a one-year-old puppy, in the near future.