A Harris County Constable Precinct 4 police dog lost his front left leg protecting three deputies during a felony suspect apprehension on Aug. 6 in north Harris County and is now recovering at home, the department announced Monday, Aug. 10.

K9 Ace was critically injured while the deputies attempted to take the suspect into custody, according to Constable Mark Herman's office on X. The injuries were severe enough to require amputation of his front left leg, but the dog survived. Precinct 4 serves roughly 1.1 million residents across north Harris County, including Spring, Klein, Cypress and The Woodlands.

The department did not disclose the specific cause of Ace's injuries, the location of the incident or the identity of the suspect.

No deputies were injured.

Four days after the incident, the office announced that Ace had arrived home and was beginning his recovery.

Precinct 4's K9 Unit, part of the office's Special Operations Command, trains dogs for patrol, narcotics detection, explosives detection and scent-specific tracking. Each K9 lives with its handler full time. The department describes the dogs as partners, not tools, and its policy allows retired K9s to remain permanently with their handlers, because "family unity is important to these four-legged deputies and their home with their handler is all they know," according to the Precinct 4 website.

Herman, who has led the office since 2015, oversees more than 670 sworn deputies. The nonprofit K9s4COPs provides training, equipment and dogs to the unit, according to the department's website.

The department has not said whether Ace will return to duty or retire.