Town of Groton Retires Nine‑Year‑Old K‑9 Saber After Distinguished Service

K-9 Saber, a nine-year-old Belgian Malinois, has been retired from the Town of Groton Police Department, the department announced in a Facebook post and in local coverage published March 3, 2026. The department described Saber as having "served with distinction" alongside his handler, Officer Ryan Brouwer.

The Town of Groton Police Department’s Facebook post carried the headline "Town of Groton Police Department Announces Retirement of K-9 Saber After Distinguished Service GROTON — The Town of Groton Police Department" and served as the primary official notice of the retirement. Local outlets WTNH and The Day published coverage the same day; the WTNH excerpt captured for this report began "The Town of Groton Police Department announced the retirement of K-9 Saber, a nine-year-old Belgian Malinois who served the department alongside" but the captured copy was truncated before that sentence was completed.

A consolidated original report repeated the core facts and included the fragment "Saber’s service record includ" before the text was cut off, leaving specifics about assignments and accomplishments unavailable in the captured material. The Day’s captured page displayed the headline "Groton Police K-9 Saber retires | The Day" along with visible site elements such as "Loading", "Previous", "The Day logo", "More Election Coverage", the promotion for the Make a Difference series, the prompt "Got something to say? Submit a Letter to the Editor.", and the notice "142 years of history at your fingertips. Search for FREE here." The Day capture also showed the page artifact '!( "Loading...")Applying ...' and included the label "The Day Footer Logo."

Available material consistently identifies Saber’s age, breed and handler: nine-year-old Belgian Malinois, handled by Officer Ryan Brouwer, and retired by announcement on March 3, 2026. What the public notices and captured coverage do not include are Saber's service start date, the length of active duty on the force, specific types of assignments or notable incidents, any departmental awards beyond the phrase "served with distinction", or details about post-retirement plans and whether Officer Ryan Brouwer will adopt Saber.

The Town of Groton Police Department’s March 3, 2026 announcement and the same-day coverage by WTNH and The Day mark the official notice of Saber's retirement; the available captures identify him and his handler but stop short of the full service record the department appears to have intended to list.