Commissioners authorize $12,000 for purchase, training
The Kendall County Sheriff’s Office is adding a new deputy in early spring, but this one has fur, four paws and a keen nose.
Kendall County Commissioners Court last week approved the purchase of a drug-detecting and trafficking canine and a three-week training course for the two-legged deputy assigned as the handler.
“We just retired one (drug dog). The dog handler left us after about eight years, and the dog had six years of service. He went with him,” said Sheriff Al Auxier.
The on-duty career of a K9 dog is about eight to 10 years, he added, so the previous canine was getting close to hanging up his badge.
The county will spend $12,000 — $8,000 on the dog and $4,000 for the training course — drawn from the Sheriff’s Office asset forfeiture fund. Auxier said the next three-week K9 training course starts sometime in March at Hill Country Dog Center in Pipe Creek, where the dog and handler will learn to become a team.
Sheriff’s Lt. Jon Rutledge told commissioners the K9 selection process isn’t as easy as saying: “I’ll pick ... that one.”
Deputies train with a number of dogs before choosing a partner.
“We want to make sure the product that we’re getting ... is the best for the county, and that it has a long career here at the Sheriff’s Office,” Rutledge said.
The handler has 50 dogs to pick from, officials said.
At the Hill Country Dog Center, the deputy will narrow the list of “dogs of choice” down to 20, then 10 and then five before selecting “the one.”
County Judge Shane Stolarczyk said the match of a dog to its handler “is a bond that lasts for life, so you want to make sure there’s a fit.”
Rutledge agreed. “We don’t want a dog going from one handler to another handler and to another handler,” Rutledge said.
“At some point I’d like to have one for every shift.”
— Sheriff Al Auxier The new K9’s arrival will give the county two patrol dogs in addition to its facilities dog and mental health dog.
Auxier said the department likes to have its two patrol dogs available for drug sniffing and seizures, and for tracking suspects or missing individuals.
“At some point I’d like to have one for every shift, but they are expensive propositions and you have to prioritize. The idea here was to get us back up to two dogs,” the sheriff said.
Comment
Comments