Fundraising effort draws enough money to purchase, train dog
A successful fundraising effort spearheaded by the Deputy
Sheriffs’ Association has raised enough money to provide the
sheriff’s department with a second K-9 unit that could be on duty
within the next 60 days.
Fundraising effort draws enough money to purchase, train dog
A successful fundraising effort spearheaded by the Deputy Sheriffs’ Association has raised enough money to provide the sheriff’s department 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.”
Bowen and Dix typically work the late swing shift from 3 p.m. to 3 a.m. Thursday, Friday, Saturday and every other Wednesday. The new K-9 unit will likely work Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and the Wednesdays during which Bowen and Dix are not on duty.
K-9 units are particularly helpful in vehicle pursuits, search warrant calls, building searches and burglary investigations, Iler said.
“They can pretty much help on anything,” he said. “They’re great at searching big buildings when we get an alarm call at 2 a.m. and they’re a great deterrent. When a person sees or hears the dog barking, they will think twice about running.”
In a report to the county Board of Supervisors, Sheriff Curtis Hill said Dix has “proven to be an invaluable asset to the department,” as the dog is trained to sniff out drugs on vehicle stops and during warrant searches.
The department will do an in-house promotion of a K-9 deputy, who will then be introduced to up to 10 dogs at once at Witmer-Tyson Imports in Menlo Park, Iler said. The dog that bonds the best with the deputy is then chosen as the patrol partner. The human and dog deputies will then go to a month-long K-9 academy for training before being put on duty.
A deputy’s patrol car will be fitted with an electronic door opener to allow the K-9 unit to spring into action on a call and the car’s prisoner partition will be changed to accommodate the dog.
Iler said patrol dogs, which live with their human partner, are typically under a year old when they begin service. These dogs usually are on duty for seven to eight years, though a previous local sheriff’s K-9 deputy, Jack, served nearly nine years.
