BLM mourns passing of retired K-9 Officer Hoost, Badge K914

Belgian Malinois K-9 Officer Hoost protected America’s public lands alongside Field Staff Ranger Chris Rice for eight years before retiring in 2018 to a life of chasing balls and belly rubs as a treasured member of the Rice family. He died at 11 years old.

Hoost and Rice completed initial K-9 training in 2011 at Von der haus Gill German Shepherds, Inc. kennels in Wapakoneta, Ohio, where they certified together in patrol, narcotics detection, and handler protection techniques.

Over the next seven years Hoost and Rice dedicated their skills to protecting people and public lands in Southern California.

They were a respected team sought after by other law enforcement agencies including El Cajon Police Department, San Diego Sheriff’s High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force, and Drug Enforcement Administration task forces.  K-9 Hoost played a vital role in multiple Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) cases. Ranger Rice and K-9 Officer Hoost helped seize tens of thousands of dollars and hundreds of kilograms of illegal narcotics from transnational criminal organizations along California’s international border.

Even with these high-profile successes, K-9 Officer Hoost’s most important job was protecting Ranger Rice and vice-versa. They brought each other home safe from every patrol, every search warrant, and every arrest.

The Bureau of Land Management and Office of Law Enforcement and Security thanks K-9 Officer Hoost for the many years of dedication, loyalty, and service spent protecting the American people and our country’s incredible public lands.