Riverview – Lieutenant Kyle Cockream with the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office says “The handler's life depends on that dog and that dog's life depends on that handler. They work as a team."

On Sunday morning half of that team was gone. Lobo, a Hillsborough County sheriff's office canine, was being boarded with several other canines from the crime fighting K9 unit at the Boyette Animal Hospital in Riverview. The facility is located at 10931 Boyette Road.

Lt. Cockream says "The handlers were out of town at a training session."

Somehow Lobo got out of his kennel and jumped a seven foot fence. Someone spotted him early Sunday morning and called the sheriff's office. Cockream says "We got a report from a citizen that they saw a large German shepherd wandering around the area that appeared to have a silver badge hanging from his collar."

Nearly two dozen deputies searched for Lobo and the sheriff's office sent out a helicopter to search too. read more