**Updated on April 10 to reflect remarks from the Marion County Sheriff’s Office.
OCALA, FL (352today.com) – UPDATE, 4/10/24: Though the law dog from Marion County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) didn’t win the Florida Sheriffs Association K-9 March Madness, MCSO expressed gratitude to the community.
“Although we did not advance to the next round, we are truly humbled by all the love and votes for K-9 Rex,” said MCSO in a Facebook post. “We’re grateful for each and every one of you who voted and shared our posts. Your support is a blessing, and it means everything to our K-9 Unit and the entire Sheriff’s Office team. Until next year!”
Put your paws together and applaud K-9 Rex for making it to the semi-finals.
UPDATE, 4/9/24, 3:30 p.m.: An 11th hour rally to help Marion County Sheriff’s Office K-9 failed to put him on top in the head-to-head competition.
The semi-final was a faceoff between K-9 Rex, a Belgian Malinois, and K-9 Laura, a Labrador from the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office .
Rex fell short.
The final match-up in the statewide competition is now between K-9 Laura and K-9 Liberty from the DeSoto County Sheriff’s Office.
Laura, a therapy dog, is already off to a strong start. Voting ends Friday at 3 p.m.
UPDATE, 4/9/24, 1:45 p.m.: The K-9 from the Marion County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) needs a massive influx of votes to come from behind in the statewide competition for top law dog.
K-9 Rex is down more than 4,000 votes as of this writing and the competition ends at 3:00 p.m. today.
|VOTE NOW: K9 March Madness
Rex is a 3-year-old Belgian Malinois. He and his handler K-9 handler Deputy Roman West began their service in the K-9 unit in 2022.
This is the third year for the contest which is organized by the Florida Sheriff’s Association and is bracket-style similar to college basketball’s March Madness.
MCSO has never won the competition which is just a friendly face-off between agencies to showcase the K-9s and the work they do.
“Winning this competition would provide us with even more reasons to boast about our exceptional K-9 Unit and the remarkable work they accomplish each day,” said Valerie Strong from the departments public information office. “Their dedication, skill, and the bond they share with their K-9 partners are truly remarkable.”
MCSO admits it may be hard to come back this late in the voting process but is proud of how well they’ve performed so far.
“While it may be a challenge to catch up to the impressive amount of votes Manatee County Sheriff’s Office has received, the unwavering backing from our citizens has been truly remarkable and deeply appreciated,” said Strong. “Every vote and share in support of K-9 Rex reflects the strong bond between our community and our K-9 Unit.”
UPDATE, 4/9/24, 8:45 a.m.: The voting for the Final Four round in the Florida Sheriff’s Association K-9 competition ends Tuesday, April 9, at 3 p.m. As of this publication, K-9 Rex from the Marion County Sheriff’s Office was trailing by nearly 4,000 votes. Rex needs his fans to rally and vote here.
UPDATE,4/8/2024: A Marion County Sheriff’s Office K-9 survived the latest round in a fierce battle for a top dog title.
The Florida Sheriff’s Association says more than 500,000 people voted online in the Elite 8 poll.
After the vote count, K-9 Rex has made it to the final four of the statewide competition. Rex beat out Tank from Nassau County to advance in the competition.
Rex is going head-to-head against K-9 Laura, a Labrador from the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office.
As of this publication, Rex is trailing Laura by nearly 4,000 votes.
For this round, voting ends Tuesday, April 9 at 3 p.m.
Here’s the link to vote.
UPDATE, 3/31/2024: One moves forward. One gets knocked out.
K-9 Rex from the Marion County Sheriff’s Office advances in the competition for the state’s top dog while K-9 Odin from Hernando County lost his battle.
K-9 Rex is now facing a challenge from K-9 Tank from the Nassau County Sheriff’s Office.
The voting for this round ends Thursday, April 4, at 3 p.m. At last check on Sunday evening just before 10 p.m., Rex and Tank were tied.
You can vote once a day in the bracket challenge.
UPDATE, 3/28/2024: It’s March Madness and while many would associate that with basketball, you can now also make your pick for which K-9 you think is the “Top Dog” in the Sunshine State.
The K-9 March Madness Tournament kicked off on March 21 pitting 32 law dogs from Florida sheriff’s offices and police departments in a head-to-head (or, should we say, snout-to-snout) competition.
Two dogs from the 352 area made it to the second round of the tournament, the Sweet 16.
K-9 Rex from the Marion County Sheriff’s Office and K-9 Odin from the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office are “begging” for your help. They need your vote online to help advance them to round three, the Elite 8.
As of 7:30 a.m. on Wednesday, March 27, Rex had more than 4,800 votes and Odin had more than 3,600 votes.
Rex is matched up with K-9 Dottie from Miami-Dade’s Police Department and had a commanding lead.
|VIRAL VIDEO: Honoring K-9 Leo: “Your sacrifice will never be forgotten. Your work here is done”
K-9 Odin is pitted against K-9 Kenny from the Walton County Sheriff’s Office in round two. Odin is in a tight battle and as of this publication was trailing.
If you’d like to make your picks and cheer on your local law enforcement departments, you can do so here.
|K-9 MARCH MADNESS: See full bracket challenge
Voting for round three has been extended to 7 p.m. on Thursday, March 28. It was originally supposed to end at 3 p.m. MCSO tells us there was a technical error with the voting platform that prevented voting for several hours.