A member of law enforcement died of injuries sustained in the line of duty here in Houston.

An explosives sniffing dog died this morning after falling from a ramp at the George R. Brown Convention Center in downtown Houston.

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.

Dogs like Mikey are a vital part of law enforcement and military operations. It is sad to see him die in this accident.

And let me say that I therefore feel a much greater degree of sorrow over his death than I do over the death of any of the Islamocensors killed in rioting over the Danish cartoons.

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