The Greene County Sheriff’s Office is pushing forward with purchasing a new canine.

Sheriff Jack Williams says they’ve surpassed their $15,000 goal to purchase and train a new canine for the Sheriff’s Office. Williams notes they are currently at $18,000 and are needing another $2,000 to upgrade the ten-year-old K-9 equipment in Deputy Chris Freshe’s patrol vehicle. Their current dog, Leo has reached the age, and has shown signs of skill-set decline, to retire so he can spend his remaining years not as a regular dog. 

Williams points out the reason it costs so much is because the companies that specialize in law enforcement trained animals comes from other countries. He tells Raccoon Valley Radio the new canine will be a dual-purpose dog, meaning the animal will be trained for drugs, searching and apprehension. Williams talks about the benefits of having an apprehension-trained dog.

“For me, personally, the K-9 is irreplaceable. He’s a great tool to de-escalate situations without having to bite, or anybody being tased, or shot, or having officers getting into a scuffle with somebody to apprehend them. The K-9 usually deterred all of that and stopped it to where everything goes peacefully, which is our end goal is a peaceful resolution to any situation.”

Donations are accepted all year, with checks made payable to the Greene County Sheriff’s Office, earmarked for the K-9 Department.