K9 cop falls to death at convention center

Local media outlets are reporting today the first casualty of the NBA All-Star Game: Mikey, a 4-year-old explosives-sniffing black lab, who died at the George R. Brown Convention Center early this morning.

The dog, Mikey, was part of a U.S. Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives unit involved in a security sweep of the convention center in preparation for the NBA All-Star game, said Franceska Perot, spokeswoman for ATF.

Perot said about 1:30 a.m. the unit was taking a break and the dog, a Labrador, was being put into the back of a truck when he suddenly bolted and went over the edge of a ramp.

The dog fell about 55 feet to the ground and was taken to a local veterinary clinic where he died. Perot said the dog, used for detecting explosives, may have seen a pigeon and instinct took over and he jumped at the bird.

"This is a highly trained animal but sometimes you can't train the instinct out of them,'' she said.