WOW, give that dog a bone! The best part of this story is that the police dog was bought by confiscated drug money.

Montgomery K-9 unit sniffs out $1 million cash seizure

By Melissa Johnson (WSFA)

MONTGOMERY, AL -

In a press conference Monday morning, the Montgomery Police Department announced that they took in $1.15 million in cash, found in the cargo of an 18-wheeler along Interstate 65. It’s the largest cash seizure on record in the City of Montgomery.

A patrol unit pulled over the tractor trailer for an illegal lane change near the interchange on Interstate 65.

A canine unit, Daisey, is credited for the discovery of the money, that was hidden inside the trailer.

Officers say the driver willingly allowed them to search his truck, but because it’s an open investigation, MPD is keeping most of the details close to the vest.

The police department will be able to keep about 80% of the money, but it has to be used for crime enforcement.

Daisey, the dog who helped find the cash, was also purchased with illegal drug money, seized off the streets of Montgomery.

Copyright 2011 WSFA. All rights reserved.

Ultimate recognition for a police dog that was critically injured in the line of duty. This dog saved his partners life, unfortunately at the cost of losing use of his hind legs. Please help in recognizing this brave police dog’s efforts by leaving a thank you comment to Major below.

By: Stephanie Crock-KSTP

Major the police dog and his handler have another award to add to their growing collection.

Major was presented a Medal of Valor from the Minneapolis Canine Unit last night.

The Roseville K-9 was stabbed during a burglary back in November and lost the use of his hind legs.

Since then, officer John Jorgensen has helped get a law passed to increase the penalty for people who injure police dogs.

The award ceremony was part of the United States Police Canine Association’s police dog trials. The Minneapolis Police Department has 12 dog-teams competing.

Roseville Police K-9 ‘Major’ (Roseville Police Department)

I hope more police departments take notice. Rescue dogs can become great detection dogs as Milwaukee Police Department’s new detection dog, Shaka, has proven! She is new to the force and has already proven how valuable she is. Great story…

A second leash on life

Milwaukee acquires new drug detection dog, Shaka, a pit bull who was saved from euthanasia
BY RAYMOND RENDLEMAN
The Clackamas Review, Jun 22, 2011

Just five years ago, Shaka wasn’t content to wait on a New York pound’s death row, and her natural love of playing fetch caught the eye of a pit-bull advocate and catapulted her to eventual stardom among Milwaukee police as the force’s best new tool for tracking down drugs.

Officer Billy Wells is handler for Shaka, the Milwaukee Police Department's new drug detection dog.(RAYMOND RENDLEMAN / CLACKAMAS REVIEW)

Since her original owner abandoned her without a trace, no one is sure whether Shaka is five and a half or six years old. Shaka is not the only American Staffordshire Terrier-type pit bull who has demonstrated a tracking ability, but her skill is without peer nationally.

Out of the 20 times that Shaka has been deployed in her first few months at MPD, she’s found drugs in 18 cases. Officer Billy Wells certified Shaka through the Oregon Police Canine Association, based in Oregon City, but it might be more accurate to say that Shaka got her handler state certification in scoring 100 percent.

“She pretty much walked me through it, because she’s a four-year veteran with a phenomenal nose,” Wells said.

Last year, Shaka’s future was again put in doubt after budget cuts slashed her position on the Washougal Police Department in Washington. Having handled a bomb-detecting dog for TriMet and the Transportation Security Administration, Wells jumped at the opportunity to adopt Shaka.

Assisting the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office for the first time on a traffic stop in Oak Grove, Shaka didn’t stop looking when she found marijuana hidden under the center console between the two front seats. She then jumped into the truck to alert officers to hidden LSD packaged for sale and a well-used pipe tucked in the car’s back- seat cushions.

Wells is careful to survey any potential search area for hazards like broken glass or open containers of cocaine, which he fears Shaka could snort in non-lethal quantities.

“She’s the type of dog who really wants to put her nose to it, not because she’s a drug addict, but because she really likes chewing on a hydraulic rubber hose as a reward for pointing to her targets,” he said.

So far, Wells’ precautions have avoided any incident, and the heavy-duty hose is the result of Shaka’s tendency to destroy any other toy. His biggest concern was that Shaka would get overheated in her excitement to find drugs on hot days during the summer.

So the Milwaukee Public Safety Foundation granted his request for Shaka’s $140 cooling vest that has little pockets to accommodate ice packs. As local officials finalized the city’s next budget this month, they were pleased that Shaka only requires $40 worth of food, supplements and ringworm medication each month.

“I’m really excited to see that new pit bull as a member of our team, and the price was a smoking-hot deal since we got the dog fully trained,” said Mayor Jeremy Ferguson.

Fast Facts

• Third annual 9K for K9 Walk

• Saturday, July 23

• Registration begins 9 a.m. at Dogwood Park, near the intersection of Main and Adams streets for the biggest annual fundraiser benefitting Milwaukee’s police dogs Jag and Shaka. The second and third 3K legs begin registration at 10 and 11 a.m. Fee of $30 ($25 preregistration) includes water bottle, event T-shirt and reflective dog leash with padded handle.

In 1984, the death of Ventura K-9 Sonny was a catalyst for the passage of an amendment that made it a felony to kill a police animal. This week, Sonny will be honored during a memorial for law enforcement dogs at UC Davis in Northern California. (Photo by Adrian Byrne)

By Adam Foxman for Ventura County Star

VENTURA, Calif. — Veteran of crime scenes and classrooms with power, long hair that earned him the nickname ‘lightning dust mop’ and a playful disposition, Sonny was a beloved member of the Ventura Police Department when he was fatally shot in 1984 while chasing a wanted parolee.

The 6-year-old German shepherd’s death was the catalyst for a 1985 amendment to California law that made it a felony to kill a police animal, and this week he will be honored during a memorial for law enforcement dogs at UC Davis in Northern California, officials said.

Sonny’s name will be among five added to the Faithful Partner monument at the university’s School of Veterinary Medicine Wednesday during a memorial ceremony for police dogs killed in the line of duty, according to a statement from the Western States Police Canine Association. Those names will join plaques honoring 34 other police dogs killed in California since 1960, according to the canine association, which sponsors the memorial.

Erected in 2002 with donated funds, the monument is a black granite star topped by a bronze, life-size German shepherd, according to the canine association.

The ceremony will include an honor guard, pipers, a motorcade and a procession of more than 60 police and sheriff’s K-9 teams, according to the canine association.

Sonny’s partner, Vern Alstot, and all four officer and dog teams from the Ventura police K-9 unit were among those who traveled to Davis to attend the ceremony.

Then a Ventura police officer, Alstot had been Sonny’s partner for three years when the canine was shot on Aug. 26, 1984.

Alstot and two other police were chasing a wanted parolee who had kidnapped his girlfriend when Sonny was sent to apprehend the suspect. The man drew a gun and fired twice, fatally wounding the 60-pound police dog.

The suspect later pleaded guilty and served six months of a one-year sentence, according to the canine association. Harming a police dog was a misdemeanor at the time, and outrage about the incident led lawmakers to change it to a felony, said Alstot.

Sonny’s death deeply affected Alstot, leading him to consider public safety jobs further from violence, he said. Alstot joined the Ventura Fire Department in 1985 and served there until his retirement in late 2009.

Together constantly at work and home, K-9 handlers and their four legged partners have a special relationship that goes far beyond master and pet, Alstot said.

“He is almost your alter ego,” Alstot said. “I can’t think of a more lonesome time that I felt in my police career then when I went back to duty in a police car without a dog.”

K-9s also protect officers in a way humans can’t, Alstot said, adding that Sonny once kept him from being shot.

Alstot and Sonny were patrolling midtown Ventura about 2 a.m. one day in 1983 when Sonny perked up, alerting the officer to two men carrying items down the street in the dark, Alstot recalled. He arrested the men with Sonny’s help, and later learned the suspects had just robbed two women. One of the victims had been sexually assaulted.

During a later interview, one of the suspects told police they would have shot the officer, but they were afraid the police dog would kill them, Alstot said.

“Sonny made a huge difference in my outcome,” he said.

Read more: Ventura police dog to be honored
- vcstar.com

A veterinarian that works at the University of Florida bought Alachua County Sheriff K9 units some much needed protection vests. The great part is the that veterinary ophthalmologist Dennis Brooks got the idea when his fiancee was pulled over by a K9 officer. How many people think of ways they can help and protect cops after being pulled over? Thank you Mr. Brooks for your generosity and showing some K9 Pride in your local K9 police dog units!

By Karen Voyles
Staff writer/The Gainseville Sun

Rookie members of the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office K9 unit got some new, state-of-the-art gear on Tuesday morning.

The four youngest dogs on the team were outfitted with bulletproof vests, courtesy of a University of Florida specialist.

Veterinary ophthalmologist Dennis Brooks said he decided to donate the vests because he recently won an award that included some cash for his work on equine ophthalmology.

“It was good fortune for me, and they (the dogs) needed help so I used it to buy the vests,” Brooks said. He got a discounted price of $850 per vest because he was buying more than one, Brooks said.

Sheriff Sadie Darnell and the supervisor of the K9 unit, Lt. Bella Blizzard, said the vests went to the newest dogs in the agency, including Bear. It was Bear, an 18-month-old German shepherd, who was chosen to model one of the new vests during a Tuesday morning press conference.

Bear’s handler, Deputy Bill Arnold, said it takes about 60 seconds to put the five-pound vest on the approximately 65-pound dog.

“He won’t be wearing it all the time — it will be based on the call,” Arnold said. For example, calls to scenes where guns, knives or violence are possible are calls where Bear would wear a vest, Arnold said.

A year ago, Brooks donated the first vest to a member of the K9 unit, Razar, the dog trained in bomb sniffing.

“This all got started because my fiancee got a speeding ticket in Alachua 10 years ago,” Brooks said. A K9 handler pulled her over, and she had one of the couple’s many dogs in the car with her. As she and the K9 handler began to talk, the dogs were allowed to get out of the car and romp and the ticket writing process that could have been – and often is – adversarial became a friendlier event. Brooks, a lifelong dog lover, said the episode got his family to thinking about what they could do to benefit the sheriff’s K9s.

“You guys are protecting me and my family,” Brooks told Sheriff Darnell on Tuesday morning, “and we wanted to do something to help protect you.”

With the donation a year ago and donation on Tuesday, Darnell said five of her agency’s nine K9s now have protective vests.  See a photo gallery of Dennis Brooks and the K9 teams

U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Benjamin Seekell and Charlie, his military working dog, were wounded in Afghanistan. They both survived and are now recovering. Thanks to some Vietnam dog handlers, Staff Sergeant Seekell was able to take his mind off of his recovery for a while and enjoyed watching a local police K9 unit demonstrate their capabilities in honor of them. Glad to see both Staff Sgt. Seekell and his dog Charlie will recover.

A police department using seized drug money to pay for a new drug sniffing dog, thanks for helping out your local law enforcement bad guys!!

TROTWOOD, Ohio (WDTN) – Trotwood police unveiled the department’s newest member of the force, a police dog named Atos.

The announcement was made at Tuesday night’s city council meeting.

Atos is the second dog on the force and he was paid for by money seized during drug raids.

“It’s his first week out, and the dog recovered some drugs and has already been a benefit to not only our department but to other jurisdictions in the county,” said Trotwood Police Chief Quincy Pope. Article courtesy of WDTN

How great is this story from The Ledger? A 12 year old girl named Tori Lynn Wilson reads an article about a police dog that recently helped track down a criminal, and is now retiring. However, the department needs to raise money for a new police dog so she donates her own money to help make it happen as she felt inspired by the work police dogs do. Way to show K9 PRIDE for your local law enforcement K9 unit Tori!

(RICK RUNION | THE LEDGER) Lynn Wilson, 12, plays with Winter Haven police dog Dano at the Police Department on Friday Tori raised $301.00 for the department's K-9 unit.

Meet the newest graduating class of the Gloucester Twp. Police K-9 training program.

Talk about taking a bite out of crime.

When an ex-con suspected of a New Cassel robbery lunged at the Nassau County police officer questioning him earlier this week, the officer’s German shepherd, Thunder, had a fierce reaction involving his teeth and the suspect’s thigh, authorities said.

It wasn’t Thunder’s first, ahem, collar of the week.

Just about 24 hours earlier, Thunder led the way to a fleeing assailant suspected of slashing a man in the face. The suspect had eluded cops by hiding in a shed in Island Park, but he gave up without a fight – or a bite – when Thunder found him. McGruff would be proud.

That’s the kind of loyalty, bravery and restraint police canine units in Nassau and Suffolk look for when scouting for dogs tasked with searching for drugs, explosives, hidden suspects and more, say the cops who handle them.

“The suspect – he dictates if he’s getting bitten or not – not the cop, not the dog,” said Sgt. John Hill, the supervisor and trainer of Nassau’s canine unit.

Hill’s unit has nine dogs, all German shepherds who hail from Europe. The canine team patrols the county and monitors police radio frequencies for incidents where a police dog might be able to help. They also do VIP assignments: It was Hill’s canine unit that helped sweep Hofstra University for explosives before last year’s presidential debate.