Walla News reports that one of the search dogs that took part of the effort to find the late Nahum Sapir was poisoned during the search and died shortly thereafter. The Belgian shepherd Sisu, who ran away from an abusive owner, was taken in by the nonprofit organization Israel Dog Unit (IDU) and trained as one of their eponymous rescue dogs.
An IDU spokesperson commented "We regret to report that one of the IDU's most prominent search dogs, Sisu, was poisoned during the operation to find Sapir Nahum, and died in agony shortly afterwards."
"We will not forget our four-footed comrade, who gave his life for the sake of locating missing persons and saving lives in Israel. We recognize and salute the supreme sacrifice of our working dogs. "
Sisu was given an intimate and emotional burial ceremony at the scene of his last assignment. The area where he is suspected to have been poisoned has been reported to the authorities, and has been determined to contain lethally high amounts of phosphorus. No suspects have been arrested in connection with the incident so far.
Yesterday, the body of Sapir Nahum, who disappeared 12 days ago, was located and identified at the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Abu Kabir yesterday, after it was found near the town of Ivtin in the north. A court has extended by eight days the detention of Walla Jamal Rubin Khalaila, 34, Sapir Nahum's former boyfriend, until next Tuesday. His brother, Alaa Khalaila, was also arrested on suspicion of involvement in her death, and his detention was extended this week, until next Sunday.