The Licking Police Department’s K-9 unit, Sara, helped officers in two drug arrests last week.

Just before 3 p.m. Friday, an LPD responded to a report of suspicious activity at an apartment complex on Old Ridge Street. The officer questioned two in two vehicles at the scene, and Sara , the drug-detecting dog, was subsequently called.

She alerted to the possible presence of drugs in one of the vehicles and a search led to the discovery of methamphetamine related drug paraphernalia.

A 24-year-old Licking resident was arrested for possession of a controlled substance and drug paraphernalia and taken to the Texas County Jail.  A report was to be sent to the county prosecuting attorney seeking formal charges.

Sara and LPD officers were busy the next day with a drug investigation at a residence on Dogwood Street, and a search there again revealed controlled substances and drug paraphernalia. A 25-year-old man and 40-year-old woman were both arrested and taken to the county jail.  A report about the incident was to be sent to the county prosecutor.

http://www.houstonherald.com/news/licking-police-dog-involved-in-two-drug-busts/article_1a318116-5b7d-11e3-b0de-0019bb2963f4.html

ALFRED, Maine (NEWS CENTER) — Maine State Police canines face some of the most dangerous situations, often unprotected; but now, thanks to a major donation from a Massachusetts charity called Vested Interest In K9s, 8 of those dogs now have custom-fitted vests.

These vests can stop a bullet or a knife… They also protect the dogs who often run through tough terrain on search and rescue or recovery missions.

For dogs like Landy, who’s a mere 45 pounds, this custom fit makes a huge difference. The donation also saves the department a lot of money, each vest costs nearly $1-thousand. The Petco Foundation is a major contributor to the vests, as was a Mainer, Madeleine Hamersley, who donated quite a bit to help vest her local troop’s canine. NEWS CENTER

http://www.wcsh6.com/news/article/264069/2/State-Police-canines-outfitted-with-custom-vests

Police dogs Slam and Jimmy sniffed out two offenders in incidents in Forrestfield and Bassendean last night.

Sergeant Gerry Cassidy said that at 7.30pm on Tuesday night police on patrol in Maida Vale tried to stop a road trail bike but were unsuccessful.

Information from a member of the public lead the police to Harold Way, Forrestfield where police dog Slam found a 21-year-old man hiding at a house construction site.

He will be summoned for riding the motorcycle without a driver’s license. In Bassendean, police responded to a report of suspicious activity by several men in Troy Street just before 11am.

When police attempted to speak to the group a 30-year-old man ran off.

He was chased and located by police dog Jimmy and police found he was wanted on a return to prison warrant.

A man from Shoalwater called police at 12.40am when he spotted a man breaking into the tavern at the Shoalwater Shopping Centre on Safety Bay Road.

Police arrived on the scene, but the man ran off, with police unable to locate him despite an extensive search.

He is 5’10” or 177cm tall, with a slim build wearing track pants and a sweat shirt.

Anyone with information is asked to call Crimestoppers on 1800 333 000

http://www.watoday.com.au/wa-news/police-dogs-slam-and-jimmy-sniff-out-offenders-20131127-2y8zw.html

By MANNING Associated Press 6:48 A.M.NOV. 6, 2013

LOS ANGELES (AP) — While some say school safety hinges on guns, cameras or alarms in classrooms, Mark Gomer and Kristi Schiller think specially trained dogs should take point in preventing violence in schools.

Gomer’s for-profit company has sent a gun- and drug-detecting dog to patrol the halls of an Ohio high school, while Schiller is launching a nonprofit in Houston to give schools the trained canines for free. Their programs are still in their infancy, so questions remain about dogs that can distract, scare or send kids into sneezing fits. But they think they can cultivate their ideas to help schools across the country stay safe.

Gomer’s first full-time safety dog is a year-old Dutch shepherd named Atticus, who reported to duty this school year at Oak Hills High School in Green Township in southwest Ohio.

The dog trained at the school before the summer break, said Gomer, co-owner of American Success Dog Training in Bridgetown, Ohio. As part of the company’s School Protection Dog program, Atticus learned on the job about marching bands and school bells and the thunk of books hitting a locker.

Gomer, who has trained about 8,000 dogs over 20 years and has three children in the school district, suggested the dog after 20 students and six teachers were killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.

Atticus has won over students, parents, teachers and district Superintendent Todd Yohey, who initially worried what people would think of him spending $10,000 on a dog.

Gomer has talked to a lot of parents and faculty, and they are saying it was money well-spent, he said.

Atticus spends his days on a leash with two security guards and goes home with Principal John Stoddard at night. Messages left for Stoddard were not immediately returned.

For her part, Schiller is looking to provide safety dogs to schools free of charge. She hopes her new initiative, K9s4KIDs, does for schools what her K9s4COPs did for police departments. She has placed more than 60 dogs with agencies in three years.

“These canines are extremely social, yet highly qualified warriors that are accustomed to going straight to the source of a threat or shooter and disengaging the suspect armed with the weapon,” said Schiller, a Houston mother and philanthropist.

The idea for K9s4KIDs grew out of school shootings and suggestions on applications for police dogs, she said.

“Something that came up was the lack of campus police or sufficient support for the law enforcement agencies that responded,” Schiller said.

If a school applies for and is chosen to receive a dog, it will come fully trained and paid for. Buying and training a safety dog costs between $10,000 and $15,000, she said.

Schiller said it would be up to school officials to decide who will handle the dogs, what they will be trained to search for, and if a dog will be assigned to one school or several in a district.

Schools will also have to consider the expense of providing medical care, food, a home and handler for the dog.

As the programs get up and running, questions remain about possible health problems and distractions the dogs can cause.

But Gomer said that fear and allergies are nothing new. He said police departments have been bringing dogs into schools for years, and some children with disabilities use them, too.

“If a child is allergic or extremely fearful, the (safety) dog will steer clear,” he said.

A school safety expert said those are concerns parents and schools will have to work out. Ken Trump, president of the Cleveland-based National School Safety and Security Services consulting firm, discussed the issue in general because he was not familiar with either program.

He said the dogs would have to be extremely social to deal with students’ initial excitement.

“Kids are going to be all over those dogs,” Trump said. “There are concerns to work around, but with the right dogs and right handlers and the right policies and procedures, they should be very beneficial.”

He said the dogs encountering a gunman would be a benefit, but the relationships the kids build with the dogs and handlers and the sense of well-being they create will probably be more lasting and life-changing.

The dogs might be a distraction in the beginning, but they will become part of what students expect to see when they go to school, Trump said.

“There is so much these dogs can do, and they’re always coming up with new ideas,” said Ted Dahlin, a Harris County, Texas, constable’s deputy who serves on the K9s4COPs board of directors. “If I were going to pick a school to make trouble, it would be one I knew didn’t have a dog.”

___

Online:

— www.k9s4kids.org

— www.schoolprotectiondogs.com

— www.ohlsd.us/ohhs

SOURCE: http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2013/Nov/06/advocates-believe-dogs-will-make-schools-safer/2/?#article-copy

Many British workers are now forced to pay into a workplace pension via auto-enrolment. There’s no pension worry for working UK dogs – if they work for the Nottingham Police Force.

Every ex crime-fighting canine will be entitled to £500 a year for three years to cover vet bills from work-related injuries.

A dog’s life

A lifetime of drug, gun and bomb sweeps and living life on the criminal front line is tough, life-threatening, work. The move by Notts Police means almost 10 working dogs will be entitled to the financial support up to March 2016.

Certainly a better outcome for the Notts animals than working for the Ministry of Defence. It was revealed earlier this year that almost 300 MOD working dogs – including animals who had put in service in Afghanistan – were put down between January 2010 and June this year.

Some police animals go on to live with their owners or handlers after retirement – but vet bills can be huge, especially if the dogs have been badly injured or had complications from existing operations. Currently no insurance company gives cover for a retired police dog.

Respect

“Many of the force’s dogs are fit and healthy when they retire,” Notts Police and Crime Commissioner Paddy Tipping told the Nottingham Post “but some need medical treatment for injury or illness resulting from being worked hard while tackling crime.”

“These dogs give willing and sterling service over the years in protecting the public so I am delighted to approve a scheme that will ensure continuing medical help once their work is done.”

There’s £20,000 put aside for the Notts Force dogs, cash taken from underspend in previous years. One charity, Fireside K9, set up in August, was specifically set up to support retired police dogs from the West Yorkshire region.

Patron Kay Burley has expressed her concern about the lack of support for retired working animals: “I’m a lifelong animal lover and have always had a huge respect for the work they do to keep us safe. I cannot believe there is no funding when they finish their working lives. I’m determined to help right that wrong.”

​

Source: http://money.aol.co.uk/2013/11/04/police-dogs-to-receive-pensions/

BY SHELBY HODGE

Big dogs prowling the nightlife environs of Hughes Hangar are seldom of the four-legged variety but during this fundraiser for K9s4COPs, the pooches were the hit of the show hosted by founder Kristi Schiller and Mayor Annise Parker.

Several seriously-trained police dogs were on hand at the “Unleashed” fundraiser to receive top honors in their categories including the Over All Top Dog of the Year award which went to K9 Tommy and Deputy Jason Bullock of the Harris County Sheriff’s Office. Roseann Rogers served as emcee, introducing the honored canines and their two-legged partners.

In keeping with the canine theme, each of the auction packages included one-of-a-kind leashes and dog collars designed by local artists includingVan McFarland, Kelley Devine and Taft McWhorter. The auction and the cause clearly struck a note as the casual evening raked in $460,000 for the program that provides specially-trained dogs to area law enforcement agencies.

Contributing to the fundraising were Bobby Kerr, the Mustang Million horse whisperer, who presented a check for 10 percent of his winnings ($17,900) and the Houston K-9 Academy, owned by Jaz and Jason Stanze, which presented a check for $7,500 to be used for purchase of one of the highly-trained dogs.

Those contributing to the cause included Harris County Sheriff Adrian Garcia, Jo Lynn Falgout, Joan and Dino Chouest, Allie Chouest, Otto Candies, Pam and Tracey Mahoney, Erin and Preston Hall, Susan and Mike Plank, Joanne andWelcome Wilson, JoAnn and Mike Cone and K9s4COPs executive director Liz Lara Carreno.​

CULTURE MAP: http://houston.culturemap.com/news/social/11-01-13-police-dogs-unleashed-at-hughes-hangar-houston-hotspot-draws-the-mayor-too/