Family's donation brings new K-9 officer Bubba to Douglas County

DOUGLAS COUNTY, Nev. - In memory of their son, Scott and Laure Slothower made a generous donation to the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office (DCSO) for a new K-9 officer.

Thanks to that generous donation, K-9 officer, Bubba is now a member of the DCSO team. Bubba had a welcoming ceremony on Tuesday.

Sheriff Daniel Coverley, along with the Slothowers and members of the Sheriff’s Advisory Committee, attended the ceremony for Bubba at the DCSO Building in Minden. Bubba is a 20-month-old German Shepherd. He showed off his training and skills with his handler, DCSO Deputy Jeremy Cunningham during the ceremony.

“Bubba’s specialized training and capabilities are an incredible resource for Douglas County,” said DCSO Sheriff Daniel Coverley. “This generous donation provides a lasting impact, and Bubba will do a great job at helping to keep our community safe.”

At the request of the Slothowers, the dog was named Bubba in memory of their son Ryan “Bubba” Slothower, who passed away in 2007. The Slothowers created the Ryan’s Keys Foundation in honor of Ryan. The Foundation is in place to raise funds for various charities that work and assist children and adults with autism and developmental disabilities.

The Douglas County Sheriff's Office K-9 Unit is comprised of ten Sheriff K-9 teams. The K-9 Unit provides an atmosphere of service and safety in the community due to the canine's specialized training and capabilities. Uses of canine teams serve the purpose of crime prevention, crime suppression, criminal investigation, and officer/citizen protection. The dogs are utilized in the patrol and jail divisions.

The dogs are trained with the ability to manage crowds, detect drugs and narcotics in investigations, locate and apprehend violent criminal suspects, and tracking.

Due to their extraordinary sense of smell, our canines can search extremely large areas in a fraction of the time it would take multiple deputy sheriffs to complete the search. This makes the job safer for Deputies and can save hundreds of man-hours per year, allowing deputies to be available for more proactive policing and giving quicker response times.

The DCSO K-9 unit is funded 100 percent by donations. If you would like to donate, visit sheriffscouncil.org.