A successful fundraising effort spearheaded by the San Benito
County Deputy Sheriff’s Association has raised enough money to
provide the office with a second K-9 unit that could be on duty
within the next 60 days.
A successful fundraising effort spearheaded by the San Benito County Deputy Sheriff’s Association has raised enough money to provide the office with a second K-9 unit that could be on duty within the next 60 days.
The association surpassed its $10,000 goal by approximately $3,000, which will fund the purchase of a German shepherd, pay for its training with an existing sheriff’s deputy and pay for the retrofitting of a patrol car to accommodate the dog.
“We went to dog shows at Bolado Park, the Dog Days of Hollister at Dunne Park and the Gavilan Kennel Club meeting,” said Roy Iler, operations lieutenant for the sheriff’s office. “We also had donations from the community, such as from Joe Tonascia of Tonascia Farms, Paul Wattis and Pivetti Co. We set a goal of $10,000 and we’re almost at $13,000 now.”
The department will soon be able to have a K-9 unit on duty seven days a week, augmenting the work done by the German shepherd Deputy Dix, who has worked with handler Deputy Kip Bowen for the past five years.
“Now we only have one K-9, so we have to pick and choose when they work,” Iler said. “It’ll be nice to have a dog on duty seven days a week.”
For the full story, see the Pinnacle on Friday.
The following is the latest installment of the News and You with Marty Richman. This edition focuses on the future of information technology in the county.
Editor’ note: There is a clarification on the overall costs for the projects. Ray Espinosa noted the county is looking at outside funding opportunities for some of the projects. The county so far has received about $300,000 to get some of the projects started. San Benito also is pursuing stimulus funds for backup infrastructure projects. One thing he left out was that the county is earmarking capital funds for these projects, but the quote numbers aren’t final.
