ROCKFORD, Ala. (AP) - An Alabama sheriff’s office is getting its first K-9 program.
The Coosa County Sheriff’s Office in Rockford said a 15-month-old, 72-pound (32.6 kilogram) German shepherd will be running the office’s new K-9 division, WSFA-TV reported. The dog will sniff out narcotics and help locate missing people.
“He stays with me from the time I wake up in the morning to the time we go to sleep at night,” said William Bradberry, who was selected by the sheriff to be the department’s first K-9 officer.
The Hometown Foundation in Connecticut donated the dog to the county that spreads over 600 square miles. That’s significant, officials said, because hikers and those with health challenges often get lost in the county’s dense woods.
On the open market, the dog would cost around $12,000, but the sheriff’s office didn’t have to pay a dime because the foundation considered the department a “low-funded” agency.
The dog doesn’t currently have a name, but students at Central Elementary are in charge of changing that.
“Kindergarten through sixth grade. They all came up with so many variations of a lot of different fun dog names,” Bradberry said.
Sarge and Blue are the top two leading names so far.
The kids will vote April 30, the day the dog will complete his certification and become a full-fledged member of the county’s crime-fighting team.
“A new journey for the sheriff’s office,” Sheriff Michael Howell said.
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