In Hebrew, the name Ziva means bright and radiant. The Broward Sheriff’s Office recently welcomed its own ray of light, K-9 Ziva, to its team of bloodhounds.

Ziva is a spunky eight-month-old bloodhound who is currently undergoing training to accomplish her mission of locating the most vulnerable missing and endangered people in Broward County, including children, the elderly, people with special needs and people experiencing mental illness. Once Ziva turns 10 months, she will be eligible to be certified by the National Police Bloodhound Association in South Carolina to begin work.

Ziva is assigned to BSO K-9 Deputy Tony Sun, who recently lost his previous K-9 partner, Bluey, to bone cancer. Following her tracking training, Ziva will also be trained as a therapy dog, providing yet another invaluable resource to BSO and Broward County.

Deputy Sun and Ziva will be assigned to BSO’s Tamarac district, and Ziva joins fellow BSO K-9’s, Ryley and Anthem, on the BSO bloodhound team. Ziva was provided to BSO through the Jimmy Ryce Center for Victims of Predatory Abduction, which is named for the boy who was murdered in Miami in 1995. The Jimmy Ryce Center provides bloodhounds to law enforcement agencies across the United States.