Two new members added to Douglas County K9 unit

There are two new members to the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office, Beny and Bane.

Beny is from Slovakia and is a one-year-old German Shepard. His new partner is canine handler Deputy Adam Windsor, who has been with DCSO for 13 years. Deputy Windsor described Beny as "mellow."

Bane is also a one-year-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 said the first thing he did when he arrived at his new home was to take Deputy O’Sullivan’s cell phone and he had to chase him to retrieve it.

Both new canine partnerships will be receiving weeks of intensive training in tracking missing persons, locating and apprehending suspects from crimes, searching buildings or vehicles, and locating drug evidence. After the initial training, the canines train weekly to keep their skills sharpened. The DCSO K-9 unit also train and interact with surrounding agencies. The canines are an extremely important part of policing and the new canines will be certified to be in service by September. The new canines will join the existing canines who are Drago, Bak, Shadow and Jax.

Both canines were purchased for $9,000 each and training costs are estimated at 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.

On Friday, October 6, 2017 there will be a DCSO K-9 fundraiser hosted by KOH780 AM Jon Sanchez at Sanchez Ranch Meat Co. in Minden. It will be a live remote on the air and the public is invited to listen to the show or be present to watch it, which will include a K-9 demonstration.

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. There were no accidental or intentional bites, but the aggression of the leashed canines certainly was a psychological deterrent to stop suspects from continuing to act aggressively toward deputies, therefore decreasing the level of physical force used.