Tulsa Bomb Dog Retires After 11 Years of Service

Chris Howell NewsOn6.com

Tulsa--Romeo the bomb dog arrives at the airport just as he has for the past eleven years. But today is different, Romeo is retiring today.

"Romeo has worked hard, eleven years with the Tulsa Police Department, a hard working dog very smart, but he's put his time in. In the TSA program there are about 507 active dogs and he's fifth in seniority, so he deserves his day. But it is going to be sad not seeing him at work every day," Said Tulsa Police Sergeant Jacob Thompson.

And it's a sad day for many of the airport's other employees. Officer Patrick Egan has been Romeo's handler for the past nine and a half years and admires his partner's work ethic.

"Romeo is a happy employee. If everybody liked to go to work as much as Romeo did it would be a different place. Everyone knows who Romeo is and he lets them know who he is. He does bark a lot and that's pretty much attention, it means come pet me, I want someone to come pet me," Officer Egan said.

Officer Egan will now keep Romeo as a pet on his 20 acre farm, where the black lab is already at home.

"He's laid back and lays in his kennel a lot in the sun. He doesn't bark at home unless we are past due feeding him." Said Egan.

It sounds like he'll take to retirement just fine.

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