A special K9 in the Milledgeville Police Department was awarded Wednesday for being a very good boy.
After receiving 4,100 votes on Facebook, K9 Falco was named '2018 K9 of the Year' by the Georgia Police K9 Foundation.
Falco was awarded a medal, $500 check, toys and even a Christmas ornament from the foundation's founder and Statesboro Police Department K9 Handler Kyle Briley.
"I'm glad, it means a lot that we had the support of everybody, you know, Milledgeville, Baldwin County, the entire Middle Georgia area, it means a lot to us that they got the word out, took the time to vote, especially this day and time with law enforcement, it really means a lot," said K9 Handler Officer, Linc Boyer.
Falco specializes in tracking, completing 12 searches for people this year.
Boyer says they were getting votes from all over.
"I want to say most of our votes came from the middle Georgia area, but we had a lady message me from Texas, all the way out there, saying she was voting for us, so it really got the word out," Boyer said.
While it feels good to win, Boyer made sure to recognize the other hard-working departments in the state.
"Like I said, it's just a friendly competition.... it's pretty much bragging rights. But everybody throughout the state, there's a lot of great K9 teams out there, and like I said, we were just lucky, and we got the most votes," Boyer said. "But it means a lot because it shows that the community does support us."
Boyer and Falco will also be featured in the Georgia Police K9 Foundation's new marketing design, given a $75 gift certificate for equipment, tactical gloves and a custom drawing of Falco.
“They make this department proud,” said Milledgeville Police Chief Dray Swicord, in a press release. “It’s an award that is well deserved.”