K9 detection dogs graduate Friday

FERRIS – On Friday, Dec. 13, Animal Farm Foundation and Sector K9 will graduate their latest class of weapons and drugs detection dogs.

The graduation will take place at the Ferris ISD, 301 East 5th Street, at 10 a.m.

Graduates include: Sgt. Brian Walters and K9 Raven, Monroe City Police Department Missouri; Chief Tracy West and K9 Bravo, Reeds Spring Police Department Missouri; Officer Tristan Hebert and K9 Riggs, Hico Police Department Texas.

Deputy Allen Connelly and K9 Maverick, West Baton Rouge Sheriffs Office Louisiana

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

The 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 taxpayers.

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

This frees up funds for other services and programs that 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.

The 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.