Eebbers, TSA's oldest and cutest bomb-sniffing dog, retires after a decade of service

Eebbers, an 11-year-old explosive detection canine, has retired after nearly a decade of service. (TSA)

A Transportation Security Administration K9 named Eebbers has retired after nearly a decade of service, during which he earned the distinction of being the agency’s oldest working bomb-sniffing dog, as well as its cutest.

This is an objective fact (though it’s also true that every dog is the best dog): Eebbers won the TSA’s “2022 Cutest Canine Contest” in August, shortly before he celebrated his retirement with a treat-laden sendoff at his home base of Minneapolis-St.Paul International Airport (MSP).

The 11-year-old vizsla-Labrador mix was born into TSA’s Puppy Program at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas and, at the time of his retirement, was the last remaining Puppy Program canine still working daily for the agency. He was named after U.S. Army Pvt. James Ebbers, who died at age 19 in Djibouti, Africa in 2002 while assigned to the 551st Military Police Company (based at Fort Campbell, Kentucky.).