Sheriff’s Department expands assets with K-9 unit

In 1998 the last K-9 unit in Adams County retired.

After a generous donation of $10,000 from Dan Nygard, the owner of the Othello Pronto Lube, and the allocation of $30,000 from the Adams County Commissioners out of the Drug Enforcement Fund, Adams County Sheriff John Hunt is able to work on bringing a K-9 unit back to the county.

According to Hunt, there are commitments for more funding if it is required with multiple businesses in Othello that are interested in supporting the K-9 program.

“Back when K-9 started in Adams County, and even when I was working in it, they funded most of the K-9 through private donations,” Hunt said.

The greatest cost for the program is the initial expense of the dog, training and equipment.

A suitable dog can cost anywhere from $8,000 to $12,000 and then there is the additional cost of the equipment necessary for the dog, as well as their handler.

“There is a need and hopefully we’ll keep it busy,” Hunt said.

At one time there were as many as three K-9 units working throughout the county.

The new dog will be cross- trained in narcotics and as a working dog. Hunt said there is not enough work in the county to have a dog that is specifically trained for only narcotics or police work.

A cross trained dog, however, would be kept busy with all of the schools throughout the county as well as agency assists for city police departments and the Washington State Patrol.

According to Hunt, there have been several occasions when the sheriff’s department has had to call in support of a K-9 unit from another agency.

In addition to the monetary donations, the Adams County Sheriff’s Office received K-9 cages that fit into Crown Victoria cruisers from the Spokane Police Department at no cost.

The next step for Sheriff Hunt and Undersheriff Dale Wagner is to decide how to select the handler out the interested deputies. They are looking at how the Spokane City Police Department chooses their handlers from a pool of candidates.

“It is something that is highly desired by the guys,” Hunt explained. “It’s a very rewarding and very fun job.”

Hunt is hopeful to have the handler selected and to have acquired a dog by April or May of this year.

The handler and the dog will then need to complete a minimum of 600 hours of training together before they can begin patrol duties.

For the training Hunt is hopeful the county will be able to send their handler up to the City of Spokane, which has its own master trainers. Otherwise training will have to be completed out of state.

“And that’s just more time and more money,” Hunt said.

Hunt said he is looking to purchase a dog through Adlehorst International, Inc., in California.

They have provided police service dogs to over 500 police agencies and several foreign agencies.

The dogs are imported from Europe after a thorough examination and have strong genetic and working background.

Many dogs from Europe are trained for Schutzhund, which was developed in Germany to test the ability of German Shepherds. Schtzhund encompasses three phases: tracking, obedience and protection.

Hunt said the department is trying to acquire a German Shepherd, a breed that he is familiar with from his dog handler days.

Hunt prefers the German Shepherd to the Belgian Malinois, a breed which has become increasingly popular as a working dog.

“My experience with the German Shepherds is they’re more easily trainable, they’re more predictable <and> they have better social qualities, as a general rule,” Hunt explained.

Malinois, Hunt said, tend to be a little more aggressive and a little harder hitting as a breed. He said for the sheriff’s department wants to have a dog that is more sociable because it will be in schools and at public events around people.

Hunt is unsure where the dog will be stationed in the county, but said it would serve as a countywide asset. He was also hopeful that eventually there would be two K-9 units in Adams County.

Working dogs are around one-year-old when they start and typically retire after seven or eight years of duty.