The K9 got separated from her handler while chasing a suspect in the bush near Brisbane, Australia on Tuesday

A massive search operation involving officers and volunteers has been underway outside the Australian city of Brisbane after a police dog got lost, while doing its job earlier this week.

PD Quizz, a three-year-old Sable German shepherd, got separated from his handler while pursuing an alleged car thief in the Ipswich area, some 40 kilometers west of Brisbane's central business district on Tuesday.

The suspect had abandoned the stolen vehicle and tried escaping through the bush. The dog followed him into the thick vegetation and hadn't been seen since then.

The Queensland police have been going out of its way to find the dog, which the local media described as "beloved." Helicopters, drones, and around a hundred people were scouring the Ipswich bushland over the past four days, according to ABC.

Quizz was "irreplaceable," the dog's handler, Senior Constable Dan McGreevy, said in a video uploaded by the police on Twitter.

"I grew as much as a person with him as much as he's grown," McGreevy insisted, adding that he was "eternally grateful" for everybody trying to help track down his friend.

The police had offered a reward for any information about the dog, but so far the search had been in vain.

Quizz could've been "snagged," said Michael Thiesfield, police inspector. "It's probable a member of the public could have picked [him] up... and is housing the actual dog," he said, adding that such things had already happened before.

"We will never give up" looking for the missing K9, Thiesfield insisted. However, he said that if Quizz isn't found by Sunday afternoon, a coordinated effort to find him will be scaled back.

(RT.com)