- November 7, 2025
The Flagler County Sheriff's Office honored K-9 Kyro in a memorial service at the First Baptist Church Bunnell on Oct. 24.
Kyro, who died on Oct. 14 of an undiagnosed heart condition, joined the FCSO in August 2024 as a dual-purpose K-9 in both patrol and narcotics detection. During his short but distinguished career, he aided in 37 arrests, the detection and seizure of 65 grams of illegal narcotics, and the recovery of 25 pieces of drug paraphernalia, a FCSO Facebook post said.
Kyro's partner was Master Deputy Marcus Dawson. Kyro was a 2-year-old German Shepherd.
Kyro was inside Dawson's air-conditioned patrol vehicle while Dawson oversaw the training of a new K-9 team. Dawson returned to the vehicle during a break and found Kyro unresponsive, a FCSO press release said.
The patrol vehicle's air conditioner and heat alarm were on and functioning at the time, and the heat alarm -- which transmits a distress signal to a K-9 handler if there is a mechanical issue -- did not go off, the press release said.
Sheriff Rick Staly asked everyone to Dawson and the FCSO in their thoughts. The K-9s are not just working dogs but trusted partners to their handlers and members of the FCSO family, he said.
“There’s a saying that ‘all dogs go to heaven,’ and Master Deputy Dawson did everything he could to save his beloved partner, but sadly, just like humans, our four-legged partners can also have undiagnosed medical conditions," Staly said. "I guess God need a well-trained and beautiful K-9 in heaven.”
