Posted by: thepinetree on 03/05/2014 11:51 AM
Updated by: thepinetree on 03/05/2014 11:57 AM
Expires: 01/01/2019 12:00 AM
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Sheriff’s Staff Obtaining A Police Dog ~ By Nick Baptista
Valley Springs, CA...After an absence of many years, “man’s best friend” is getting ready to return to the Calaveras County Sheriff’s Office. The sheriff’s office expects to welcome Buster, a 2-year-old shorthaired Dutch shepherd trained in detecting narcotics, in early summer. The department is acquiring the canine drug-hunter thanks to donations from the public raised through the Friends of the Calaveras Sheriff’s Office. The organization is about as old as Buster. It was formed in 2012 to provide financial assistance to the sheriff’s department and last month had its second annual crab feed, which raised just under $5,000. Providing the funding to obtain, train and equip a police dog for the department has been the Friends’ top priority. The sheriff’s office is receiving Buster from Weiss Hauzahn Canine Training out of Sonora for $500, a considerable discount. A dog of Buster’s ability normally would sell for $4,000, but the owners of Weiss Hauzahn Canine Training support law enforcement efforts and have provided dogs to the Angels Camp Police Department at similar discounts...
Before Buster can join the force, his handler has to be selected from among deputies already on staff, both of them trained, and equipped - all costly expenses the Friends of the Calaveras Sheriff’s Office will cover. Training is projected to cost $2,500 to $3,000, while conversion of a patrol vehicle into a canine unit is expected to cost approximately $10,000.
Buster could be blazing a path for other police dogs to join the sheriff’s office. “We’re starting off slowly,” said Sgt. Chris Hewitt, the department’s public information officer. “It’s been a while since we had a canine.”
The sheriff’s office is exploring the possibility of acquiring dogs for duties such as handler protection and tracking, he said.
Buster has been trained to find four odors – methamphetamine, heroin, cocaine and marijuana. His trainers describe him as “very outgoing, social with people, kids and other dogs.”
FOCSO depends on memberships to carry out the non-profit’s mission. There are individual and business memberships with each having five levels of benefits. For more information, visit the organization’s website at www.FriendsoftheCalaveras-SheriffsOffice.org and there is a “Membership” page at site.
“We’re in this for the long haul,” Candace Keesey, Friends of the Calaveras Sheriff’s Office executive director, said of the non-profit organization’s commitment to the canine program. “This is a tiny step in what can be a huge commitment.”
Ventura County has been a model for the program, Keesey said, and it went from one to 14 canines.
However, the non-profit is not solely dedicated to the canine program and is always looking at other ways to help the sheriff’s office, she added.
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