The Auburn Police Department sadly announced the passing of Police Service Dog Ronin. He succumbed quickly to a chest infection on June 6. Ronin was 5 years old.

Ronin and his handler, Officer Dan O’Neil, have been in service as a K9 team since March 2005. The team actively worked up until the day of Ronin’s passing.

During their service, Ronin was deployed on tracks 298 times. Of those tracks, 103 ended in suspect captures and 51 tracks resulted in the recovery of evidence.

A memorial service will be held at 4 p.m. Monday at the Auburn Adventist Church, located at 5010 Auburn Way S.

Donations may be made in Ronin’s name to the City of Auburn’s K9 Fund at Auburn City Hall, 25 W. Main St., Auburn, WA 98001 or to Pet Haven 23646 Military Road, Kent, WA 98032. The city fund helps to purchase new police dogs and equipment such as bullet-resistant vests. The Pet Haven fund goes to the construction of a memorial for all police K9s.