WINDER, Ga. (AP) — A retired police dog has been found dead on the side of a northeast Georgia highway.

Authorities say Ranger, who worked for the Barrow County Sheriff's Office, was found dead Saturday along Georgia Highway 211 after being struck by a vehicle.

A sheriff's spokesman said the black Labrador retriever, who retired eight months ago after serving as a narcotics dog since April 2004, was pronounced dead at a veterinarian clinic.

Authorities tell The Athens Banner-Herald (http://bit.ly/1fEgnXa) that Ranger had been let into a fenced yard by its owner on Friday, but escaped from the yard.