Through the generosity of the Friends of Douglas County K-9 and their fundraising efforts, the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office (DCSO) will be able to expand the K-9 unit with two additional K-9’s. Friends of Douglas County K-9 will purchase two new dogs and pay for the training of three K-9 handlers to attend the K-9 Academy at the Vohn Liche Kennels located in Indiana, in January 2015. With the addition of the two new K-9’s, DCSO will have a total of six K-9 teams; each team consists of one K-9 and one K-9 handler. DCSO is fortunate to have had K-9’s since 1989.
Douglas County Sheriff Tony Spurlock said: “This is a unique collaboration between Douglas County Sheriff’s Office and Friends of Douglas County K-9. Our combined mission is to sustain a unit of well-trained, well-equipped dogs, to be used to maintain the safety of the community. Together we will have purchased five new dogs, safety equipment, and training classes to teach the handlers how to better instruct their dogs. These classes allow the dogs to become a more finely tuned tool to be used for the protection of our citizens, making Douglas County one of the safest communities in the state of Colorado.
Having these dogs on every patrol shift is a major achievement for the safety of our personnel and the citizens we serve. It drastically improves the efficiency and effectiveness of the Patrol Division. The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office is fortunate to have this partnership with the Friends of Douglas County K-9, which allows us to provide continuous K-9 coverage 24 hours a day”.
Friends of Douglas County K-9 Chairman, David Swieckowski D.V.M. said: “Our mission is to support the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office K9 Unit and this generous funding of more dogs and training is helping us fulfill this mission. If it were not for our donors and our volunteers, we could not have even come close. All of us in Douglas County take immense pride in these dogs and their handlers. We couldn’t be more thrilled.”