CLOQUET, Minn. �Somewhere in Slovakia, theres a young German shepherd whose life is about to change.
The dog will soon be headed to Carlton County to be sworn in as the newest K-9 officer in the Carlton County Sheriffs Office, thanks to a somewhat unexpected and generous gift from Northwoods Credit Union in Cloquet.
At a credit union board meeting a couple of weeks ago, members of the board voted unanimously to pay all of the $10,000 price tag for the dog.
"When (President Barb) Brown brought this to the board," said Board Chairwoman Debbie Larson, "everyone was immediately excited about it. They jumped right on it, and the vote was unanimous."
And thats exactly what Brown said her gut feeling was when Sheriffs Deputy Tory Cawcutt first approached her about supporting the acquisition of a new K-9 officer for the department.
"Northwoods Credit Union supports the credit union philosophy people helping people, " she said. "Were especially pleased to be able to make a donation which directly impacts the people who live here."
The Sheriffs Office has been without a K-9 officer since 2011, and Lake said the lack of a dog has been sorely felt.
"Weve had to rely on surrounding departments to help us out when we have a need," Lake said. "Obviously, that isnt the optimal situation, and we believe that having our own K-9 will be extremely valuable in doing our job and for the people of the county."
The dog has already been hand-picked by retired law enforcement officer and dog trainer Steve Pearson of Performance Kennels in southern Minnesota. Lake said Pearson acquires many of his dogs for law enforcement agencies from breeder/trainers in Slovakia, and that he has had an excellent track record with those dogs. She said he was expecting two of the canines to be shipped to Minnesota a few weeks ago, but that plan had to be put on hold because of airline regulations regarding minimum air temperatures at which animals can be transported in the planes baggage area. She added that Pearson now expects the dogs to arrive by late December.
In the meantime, Lake said the Sheriffs Office has already posted the mandatory 10-day notice of an opening for an internal candidate to become the dogs handler. Once an officer is selected, based on a wide range of criteria, the department will be ready to receive the dog and move forward with making a home for him.
Though Carlton Countys K-9 will already have received intensive training when he arrives, Lake said the next step will be for the appointed handler and the dog to go through additional training to learn to work together as a team.
The first phase of that training will be in drug detection, followed by tracking and apprehension and then evidence retrieval, since this particular K-9 will be a multipurpose dog. Lake added that he will also be used to enhance public relations between the Sheriffs Office and the public by making in-school appearances and presenting skill demonstrations.
She explained the new K-9 officer will not only be used to detect drugs but to track down fleeing suspects and lost or missing persons and he will be trained to recover evidence along the way.
Other members of the public have also sent in donations to help in the acquisition of the dog and Lake said that money will be valuable in helping to pay for the ongoing expenses of feeding, veterinary services and care of the animal and very possibly the acquisition of a bullet-proof vest that will help safeguard his health and welfare.
"The work that the Carlton County Sheriffs Department does is essential to our community," Brown said. "We wanted to make a difference and support them as much as we possibly could. We feel its imperative to have a K-9 program re-implemented to help our law enforcement officers to do their jobs."
Lake said the entire Sheriffs Office is excited about having a K-9 officer on duty once again, particularly because they realize how much this dog will enhance the safety and effectiveness of their jobs in many obvious and not-so-obvious ways.
"If the officer makes a traffic stop and walks up to the suspects car window, the dog always stays in the car," Lake noted. "But if the suspect begins to attack the officer, he will be able to hit a remote button which releases the dog from the car to come and help defend him.
"Or, if the department gets a call about an intruder at the credit union in the middle of the night," Lake continued. "The dog will be the first one we send in."
- See more at: http://mncreditunionnews.org/northwoods-cu-gift-pays-for-new-police-dog#sthash.lQP6Hb4F.dpuf
