{"id":67556,"date":"2026-05-28T19:37:31","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T23:37:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/?p=67556"},"modified":"2026-05-28T19:37:40","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T23:37:40","slug":"rest-in-peace-k-9-pantera-ace-were-going-to-miss-you-buddy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/2026\/05\/28\/rest-in-peace-k-9-pantera-ace-were-going-to-miss-you-buddy\/","title":{"rendered":"Rest in Peace, K-9 Pantera \u201cAce\u201d \u2014 We\u2019re Going to Miss You, Buddy"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Our hearts were broken yesterday as we said goodbye to K-9 Pantera \u201cAce,\u201d a faithful partner, protector, and beloved member of the Lakeland Police Department family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ace recently suffered an unexpected medical event, and despite the best efforts of medical professionals, his health declined rapidly. We are grateful to the the incredible team at New Life Veterinary Hospital who cared for him with compassion during his final days.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Raised by Officer Vanderpool from a puppy, Ace\u2019s journey began in sport and competition before he answered the call to serve his community. In June 2022, Officer Vanderpool and Ace officially became a Lakeland Police K-9 team, forging a partnership built on loyalty and trust.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During his distinguished service, Ace completed 54 narcotics deployments, leading to 31 seizures and 19 drug arrests. On patrol, he responded to 375 calls for service, contributing to 138 arrests and 6 apprehensions. His work helped make our community safer, and his impact will never be forgotten.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Together, Officer Vanderpool and Ace earned recognition in United States Police Canine Association (USPCA) competition, placing 3rd overall, and were preparing to proudly represent Region 1 at the USPCA Nationals. This duo was also recognized by the National USPCA and bestowed the local President\u2019s Roundtable award for locating a missing child.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But beyond the accolades and statistics was a partnership few can truly understand, the unbreakable bond between a K-9 officer and his partner. Officer Vanderpool and K9 Ace stood together through every challenge, every call, and every victory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Officer Vanderpool, although Ace\u2019s watch has ended, his courage, loyalty, and devotion to duty will live on forever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

K-9 Ace\u2026 your streets are secure. Your work here is complete. You have answered your final call. End of Watch: May 26, 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rest easy, Ace. You will forever remain in our hearts. Have fun at the bridge with your former teammates. We\u2019ll take it from here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Our hearts were broken yesterday as we said goodbye to K-9 Pantera \u201cAce,\u201d a faithful partner, protector, and beloved member of the Lakeland Police Department family. Ace recently suffered an… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":67558,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"wpai_generated_summary":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":true,"token":"eyJpbWciOiJodHRwczpcL1wvaTAud3AuY29tXC9sYWtlbGFuZGdhemV0dGUuaW5mb1wvbmV3c1wvd3AtY29udGVudFwvdXBsb2Fkc1wvMjAyNlwvMDVcL2s5LXBhbnRlcmEud2VicD9maXQ9NzMxJTJDMTAyNCZzc2w9MSIsInR4dCI6IlJlc3QgaW4gUGVhY2UsIEstOSBQYW50ZXJhIFx1MjAxY0FjZVx1MjAxZCBcdTIwMTQgV2VcdTIwMTlyZSBHb2luZyB0byBNaXNzIFlvdSwgQnVkZHkiLCJ0ZW1wbGF0ZSI6ImRvaXMiLCJmb250IjoiIiwiYmxvZ19pZCI6MTYzMDQwNjYxfQ.4TFTaW9o1BbfEYFRy-yBV5UD94fh51kgZuU4Ks2semgMQ"},"version":2,"media_source":"sig","attached_media":[{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/jetpack.com\/redirect\/?source=sigenerate&query=t%3DeyJpbWciOiJodHRwczpcL1wvbGFrZWxhbmRnYXpldHRlLmluZm9cL25ld3NcL3dwLWNvbnRlbnRcL3VwbG9hZHNcLzIwMjZcLzA1XC9rOS1wYW50ZXJhLTczMXgxMDI0LndlYnAiLCJ0eHQiOiJSZXN0IGluIFBlYWNlLCBLLTkgUGFudGVyYSBcdTIwMWNBY2VcdTIwMWQgXHUyMDE0IFdlXHUyMDE5cmUgR29pbmcgdG8gTWlzcyBZb3UsIEJ1ZGR5ICIsInRlbXBsYXRlIjoiZG9pcyIsImZvbnQiOiIiLCJibG9nX2lkIjoxNjMwNDA2NjF9.o4p1q8PzjOVvOwRP4B4nm5mGOHeFMqcQ5IfO_Bhm5goMQ","type":"image\/jpeg"}]},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[12,14],"tags":[14717,14716,14715],"class_list":["post-67556","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local","category-news","tag-buddy","tag-k-9-pantera-ace-were-going-to-miss-you","tag-rest-in-peace"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67556","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=67556"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67556\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":67559,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67556\/revisions\/67559"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/67558"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67556"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67556"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67556"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}