(WKYT) – The Mount Sterling Police Department introduced its newest K-9 officer several weeks ago after a local animal shelter offered the department a trained dog.
The department has been working for years to grow its K-9 fleet with a goal of each officer having their own K-9 unit. The newest member, Kira, came from the Montgomery County Animal Shelter.
“Normally, we either go by grants or we have to pay out of our funding for these dogs. They’re not cheap. We usually get them from a place in Ohio and those dogs generally run anywhere from $9,000 to $15,000, and that’s just for the dog alone,” Mount Sterling Police Chief Aaron Noel said.
Shelter recognizes specialized training
The department received a call from the shelter weeks ago with an offer.
“My assistant animal control officer and myself both noticed there was something special about Kira,” Montgomery County Animal Shelter Director Adam Grubb said.
The young German shepherd knew more than basic commands and appeared to have specialized training. She could understand German commands.
“We know that she was trained by a handler for competitions out of another county and I believe he just became overwhelmed with the amount of dogs he was attempting to train and knew somebody would pick this dog up,” Noel said.
Department handlers came to look at Kira and determined she would be a good fit.
“We are very grateful for that opportunity, because again, that saves us money, helps out the shelter by leaving them with one less dog they’ve got try to get adopted, so its a win-win on both sides,” Noel said.
Kira has been training for a week and has five weeks left of training until she is a full-fledged member of the department.
“Here at Montgomery County Animal Shelter, we want to set dogs up for the most positive outcome, we don’t want to set dogs or families up for failure. So we knew this dog was special and she needed to go somewhere special,” Grubb said.
Noel said Kira will be trained in narcotics searches, article tracking and apprehension of suspects.