Jackson Sheriff Getting New Drug Dog

The Jackson County Sheriff’s Department will hire a new police dog, replacing one that was retired a few months ago.

Captain Dennis Thrasher said the new dog will be a Malinois, trained for drug-sniffing and biting scenarios. Thrasher said the department should get several years of service out of the animal.

“That’s with the purchase of the dog and the training,” Thrasher said. “So as these officers go back to training every month, they don’t charge us extra for that. The only time it would cost us more if you had a handler change then they may do some kind of transition cost because that dog has to be trained for that officer.”

Thrasher said a vest for the dog is not included in the $13,000 purchase. Thrasher said there are grant programs and other opportunities the department will have to explore later on to pay for a vest.

“He will search for drugs, whether it be vehicle or whatever the case may be there,” Sheriff Marty Hinson said. “And as far as the bite, he’ll be trained as tracking so if we have a subject run off or whatever, at the end of that track he will bite.”

Hinson said he expects to have the dog in the department and ready to go by Wednesday or Thursday. Hinson said the department still had one K-9 unit on the force so there have not been any issues while the replacement was being found.

“We want to fight the drugs with everything that we can at any given time,” Hinson said. “As far as the tracking part goes there, again, if you have a subject that you were in pursuit of or whatever that run off on foot that maybe have had drugs on him that you were trying to place under arrest and was evading, then that dog tracking and at the end of that track being able to apprehend him, and not just drugs, but any suspect of anything whether it be burglary or whatever, it’s always a good thing.”