The San Benito County Sheriff’s Office has a new tool, and it
packs a bite. After a fundraising effort last year netting nearly
$13,000, the sheriff’s office has a second K-9 unit, enabling the
department to have such coverage all seven days of the week.
The San Benito County Sheriff’s Office has a new tool, and it packs a bite.
After a fundraising effort last year netting nearly $13,000, the sheriff’s office has a second K-9 unit, enabling the department to have such coverage all seven days of the week.
The gold and black German Shepherd named Nantos, meaning “superior” in Greek, had his debut working last week after spending only a few weeks in Hollister, K-9 Deputy Johnny Pena said.
“He has acclimated himself good to being in the car,” Pena said. “The hard part to get him to switch to your schedule.”
Working up to four days a week, Nantos and Pena usually work late into the night, and keeping the dog up and alert is important, Pena said.
“I usually play with him before work, which gets his drive going. His drive is what makes him want to work,” Pena said. “And then once we go out, he is up and at ’em.”
Nantos splits his working hours with the department’s five-year veteran K-9 Dix, allowing a dog to be on staff every day of the week.
“Before we only had one dog so we had to pick and choose where we were going to put him,” Lt. Roy Iler said. “So naturally, we put him on the weekend shift, but now we can have a dog on every day.”
The K-9 unit allows the department to be more efficient, Iler said.
“He is a tool that we have for pursuits, burglary, and any type of serious felony we could use him – that’s what we’ll use him for,” Iler said. “He really comes in handy for searches and next year he’ll go to school for dope training. He’ll be able to track and search for dope.”
The process of getting and training Nantos took nearly five months after the funds were raised in early October. The 2-year-old Nantos was selected from a group of three or four dogs at Witmere-Tyson Kennels in Menlo Park, Iler said.
Pena and Iler selected the dog by how he bonded with the handler. Pena took the dog for a walk and made sure the dog was responsive to him.
For the full story, see the Free Lance on Tuesday.
