This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
A Utah Highway Patrol service dog, Tank, was struck and killed Friday morning when he ran out onto Interstate 80.
His handler, Trooper Cham Neff, had pulled over on eastbound I-80 underneath Bangerter Highway, where he normally lets Tank out for a break, said spokesman Cameron Roden. But about 10:30 a.m., the 11-year-old Belgian Malinois ran out into the highway and in the path of a semi-truck.
Running away like that was "really uncharacteristic for Tank," Roden said.
Tank had been "a giant success" and "has saved countless lives," according to a post from Neff on the UHP Facebook page. Tank had been with Neff's family for four years.
Though "thousands of pounds of illegal contraband … and millions of dollars in cash in drug related money has been found," Neff wrote in the post, Tank left him too early and had a lot more to find.