Beloved Novato K9 Cop Calls It Quits

NOVATO, CA — He's most of his life hunting down bad guys. Now Officer Nova hopes to enjoy the good life.

Marin’s beloved K9 cop will step down after serving the Novato Police Department for 2 ½ years.

The Belgian Malinois has served in area searches, drug detection and tracking, and has also served on the San Rafael-Novato SWAT team.

He underwent multiple surgeries this year for a leg injury, according to a GoFundMe drive that raised more than $12,000 for his care.

His handler, Officer Brian Ringo, will take Nova on as his family pet in retirement.

“Nova has been an asset to the Novato Police Department and other Marin County agencies over the last 2.5 years,” the GoFundMe campaign statement said.

“He has assisted in ensuring the safe surrender of numerous violent suspects and the seizure of copious amounts of illegal narcotics.”

Nova earlier this year suffered an injury in training to his back leg that required surgery, and signs of a bacterial infection surfaced shortly after he was cleared to return to duty.

He underwent surgery again, this time to remove the hardware (plate and screws) from his back leg now that the bone was fused and healed.

Nova suffered another injury during a SWAT training exercise that led to the discover that he suffered from carpal hyperextension, which would require an additional surgical procedure on his front foot to relieve him of pain and to get his front foot back to a normal posture.

“At this time, it is apparent that Nova will no longer be able to continue as a police dog and will medically retire at 5 years old,” the GoFundMe statement said.