Douglas County Sheriff's K-9 fundraiser

The final radio show of the year for the Douglas County Sheriff's Office will coincide with a K-9 fundraiser on Friday, October 6 with Jon Sanchez on KOH780AM.

Five of the Douglas County Sheriff's Office K-9s will be on hand during the live show and event from 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. Sanchez Ranch Meats located at 1734 Hwy 395 in Minden, Nev.

The DCSO K-9 unit is made up of Shadow, Drago, Bak, Bane and Beny.

Bane and Beny are the newest members of the team. Beny, is from Slovakia and is a 14-month-old German Shepard. His new partner is canine handler Deputy Adam Windsor, who has been with DCSO for 13 years. Beny is described as very mellow. Bane is also a 14-month-old German Shepard. His new partner is canine handler Deputy Luke O’Sullivan who has been with DCSO five years. Deputy O’Sullivan described Bane as goofy and fun, but very efficient.

Both new canine partnerships completed weeks of intensive training in tracking missing persons, locating and apprehending suspects from crimes, searching buildings or vehicles, and locating drug evidence. All the K-9 teams continue to train weekly to keep their skills sharpened.

Both canines were purchased for $9,000 each and training cost was around $4,000. The purchase of the canines and the training are all paid for from privately donated funds. Privately donated funds continue to fund DCSO K-9 program, which includes the purchase of new canines, training, food, equipment, veterinary care and housing costs. There is no money allotted in the budget for the DCSO K-9’s.

The public is invited to come to Sanchez Ranch Meat Co in Minden on Friday to watch K9 demonstrations every 15 minutes, or maybe have dinner. KOH780am Jon Sanchez will be interviewing the various K-9 handlers and Captain Joe Duffy who leads the group. The public can donate in person, or call in a donation. Credit cards will be accepted.

In 2016, the DCSO K-9 unit responded and checked 128 burglary alarm activations, searched 161 buildings, tracked 7 suspects or missing persons, found 323 pieces of drug paraphernalia, located 4,612 grams of marijuana, 77.6 grams of methamphetamine, 12 grams of heroin, 2 grams of cocaine, and 6 grams of MDMA (Ecstasy). Due to the efforts of the DCSO K-9 units, 18 more suspects were arrested.

The K-9’s are usually scheduled to work during peak activity times, or are on call to respond when there is not one on duty. Pictured is Beny with his handler Deputy Adam Windsor during training. The second picture is Jax. His handler is Deputy Jeff Johnsen, who will also be at the fundraiser. Jax can assist you with eating your dinner