After recovering from animal cruelty and malnourishment, a lively black labrador retriever named Zeke has lent his talented nose to the Bucks County Sheriff’s Office, reports Nick Iadonisi for 6abc.

Together with his handler, Christina Brewerton, Zeke is among the first members of their K9 Unit.

“I have a dream assignment,” said Brewerton. “I have a fantastic dog who has molded me and him into a better team.”

While it was thinking about adding a K9 Unit, the Bucks County Sheriff’s Office reached out to the Connecticut-based Hometown Foundation.

“They had a dog,” said Brewerton. “We got K9 Zeke and also a German Shepherd Emma. So our unit was born.”

Zeke was neglected and abused by his previous owners.

“So it really took a long time for us, initially, to build that bond and get closer,” said Brewerton.

Zeke does explosive detection, evidence recovery, and can be deployed to assist with missing people.

“He’s come a long way,” said Brewerton. “He just turned three and we’ve made a lot of progress in two years.”

Watch the entire segment at 6abc.