FERRIS: Shelter dogs becoming weapons/drug detection dogs

FERRIS – A different type of graduation celebration, the Spring 2019 Animal Farm Foundation/Sector K9 Detection Dog Graduation Ceremony will be held May 23 at the Ferris Independent School District.

The event starts at 10 a.m. at 301 East 5th Street.

Dogs in the Animal Farm Foundation program are not the purebred canines typically trained as K9s.

They are selected from shelters based on a rigorous screening process determining their innate ability to do detection work. 

Saving dogs to save lives is at the core of this initiative.

Animal Farm Foundation is a nonprofit whose mission is to secure equality, compassion, and justice for all individuals. One of AFF’s key initiatives is its Police Dog Grant program, which works in conjunction with the Sector K9 training facility, run by Texas police officer Wes Keeling.   

The high potential dogs are sent to Sector K9 for an intensive 4-8 week training program, paid for entirely by Animal Farm Foundation. 

Dogs are trained to detect narcotics, opiates and guns, with some learning special skills in tracking. 

Then they are matched with law enforcement officers and placed in communities and schools to reduce crime and elevate safety.

These K9s are graduates of a program that is changing the paradigm of training and providing detection dogs just as they are most crucially needed. 

Animal Farm Foundation is playing an invaluable role in the push for public safety by offering skilled K-9s at no cost to police departments or tax payers. 

As a result, police departments save the approximately $20,000 it costs to obtain a K9 through normal channels. 

This frees up funds for other services and programs  make the community safer, creating an exponential benefit.

In schools, detection dogs do much more than patrol the hallways searching for drugs and guns. 

They act as a powerful deterrent to crime and also build bridges between students and law enforcement personnel. 

K9s also work with police officers on community and highway patrols, sniffing out dangerous drugs that can lead to overdoses and crime. 

Tracking dogs serve to find lost children or seniors with dementia, track criminals and fight human trafficking.