A Canterbury Police dog has received a life-saving blood transfusion from a fellow K9 after being seriously injured last night.

Four-year-old Kosmo sustained a 4cm cut to the throat, narrowly missing his carotid artery, while responding to a family harm incident in Kaiapoi about 6.30pm.

He was flown by helicopter to a Christchurch 24-hour vet where he received the transfusion from a fellow Police dog.

Kosmo was transferred to a Police vet this morning where he is being monitored and may undergo exploratory surgery to check for internal damage.

Dog handler Constable Regan Turner said he was tracking an alleged offender through rural property when he deployed Kosmo.

“I knew when I got to the area and couldn’t find him that something had happened.

He doesn’t run away from me.

I knew he was lying somewhere, it was just a matter of getting to him,” he says.

It took 20-25 minutes to eventually locate Kosmo and administer first aid.

“Kosmo had lost a lot of blood, I thought he was a gonner,” Constable Turner says.

“The cut was to his jugular — he’s very lucky to be alive.

“Kosmo’s saved me on a few occasions and I can’t thank him enough for what he did last night.

It was either him or me, unfortunately.”

A 29-year-old man from Christchurch was arrested at the scene and is due to appear in Christchurch District Court today (June 1) on various charges.

Kosmo and Constable Turner feature in the current season of Dog Squad.

ENDS

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