Royal Oak Police Department Loses One Of Its Best

ROYAL OAK, MI — Royal Oak has lost one of its best crime fighters. K-9 Rex — a seven-year veteran of the Royal Oak Police Department — died on Sept. 5. He was 15 years old.

Rex served the department with handler, Sgt. Brian Zelakiewicz. According to a city of Royal Oak Facebook post, Rex was called upon countless times to locate violent suspects, but his specialty was detecting narcotics.

He was requested by the Drug Enforcement Administration and Oakland County Narcotics Team on numerous occasions to assist with search warrants and apprehending known drug traffickers, the post states.

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Rex earned multiple awards, but had a soft spot when it came to kids. He was often brought to elementary schools where students loved to pet him. Before Rex passed away, Zelakiewicz was able to take his long-time partner for one last ride in a Royal Oak K-9 car so the duo could say their goodbyes.

Photo courtesy of the city of Royal Oak