Bloodhound puppy adopted by Pittsburgh police dies

Loki, a bloodhound puppy recently acquired by Pittsburgh police, died Saturday, officials said.

The bloodhound, about 10 weeks old, was to be trained as a tracking dog for missing humans, spokesman Chris Togneri said.

Togneri said Loki was playing with his trainer, Master Patrol Officer Bill Watts, Saturday morning when the pup suddenly collapsed. Watts rushed him to Pittsburgh Veterinary Specialty & Emergency Center on Camp Horne Road where veterinarians determined Loki was suffering from aspiration pneumonia.

Aspiration pneumonia means Loki inhaled food, water, vomit or something else and, as a result, his lungs became inflamed.

Vets put Loki on oxygen and antibiotics and sedated him, said Sgt. Sean Duffy, who leads the K-9 unit, but the pup “quickly declined” and died about 2 p.m.

Loki was taken to Fred Donatelli & Son Cemetery Memorials to be cremated, Togneri said.

Loki will be sadly missed,” Public Safety Director Wendell Hissrich said.

“Whereas most K-9's are deployed to take down ‘bad guys,' Loki was to find society's most vulnerable, and to greet them with a friendly lick and loyal presence,” Togneri said in a statement.

Police were training Loki to be a human locator — a K-9 who could track and find the at-risk missing, like Alzheimer's patients and children with autism.

“He would have been the best human locator we have,” Duffy said.

Megan Guza is a Tribune-Review staff writer.