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Officer.com Home > Top News Stories

California K-9 Victim Of Budget Cuts


Posted: Friday, July 10, 2009
Updated: July 10th, 2009 10:04 AM GMT-05:00

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Story by ksbw.com

MONTEREY, Calif. --

A Central Coast police department is asking for donations to help keep a crime-fighting dog on their staff that had to be let go because of budget cuts.

Able, a 5-year-old German Shepherd, was the partner of Officer Jason Newby. Able is unable to retire from the force because of his young age.

The MPA is asking for donations on behalf of Able and Newby so it can purchase the dog.

Able, however, would not return to the force. Instead, Newby would keep him as a pet so they can continue their friendship.

Any money raised in excess of the cost to purchase Able would be donated to the Police K-9 programs in Monterey County.

For more information on Able and how you can donate, call 831-646-3819.

Copyright 2009 by KSBW.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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Posted by This sucks
(07/10/09 - 11:01 AM)
The dog has already been paid for and trained...can't they just keep him and allow the handler to cover the costs of food and other bills? As a K9 handler myself, I know I would and I also know most other handlers would. I wonder if there is more to it.



Posted by Cash in in Cali
(07/10/09 - 11:43 AM)
dog
That sucks that the deparment is unAble to pay for the dog.



Posted by No one special, just me
(07/10/09 - 04:02 PM)
I don't understand this either, as funny as this sounds.. Why not make the K9 a Level II reserve officer ? The department has already paid for the training and equipment... Just add a small stipend to the handler's pay for some of the food and other needs of the K9



Posted by Art F in Southern California
(07/10/09 - 04:03 PM)
Story Clarification
The entire article does not make sense. Like the first posting said, the dog is already paid for, so how much money are they talking about for food and vet bills? And then they say the dog can't retire becuase it's to young but it can't return to service either and will only be kept as a pet... If the handler is going to keep it as a pet, then he or she is going to be paying for the dog food, vet bills, etc. so then we go back to the first question, what is the money for and even more so, why can't the dog return to service??

My guess is the press release said one thing but the newspaper or TV news room edited it and deleted some key information that would have clarified the issue... Maybe their PIO can clear it up for everyone...



Posted by Just the Facts in Monterey, CA
(07/10/09 - 06:26 PM)
Canine Able
The Canine Team was eliminated through the Department's budget reduction plan/target of almost one million dollars. Five police officer positions were eliminated in all, including the canine officer position. The canine handler did not lose his job because he has seniority. This is not something that the Department wanted to do but the million dollars in reductions was not optional.



Posted by Bob in Oregon
(07/11/09 - 01:07 AM)
Police officers, in most states that I am aware of, are not allowed to care for, feed, train, vaccinate, whatever department K-9's out of their own pocket and on their own time due to state labor laws and, more often than not, union rules.



Posted by MD Copper
(07/11/09 - 09:15 AM)
My agency has 12 K-9's, they are the most trained unit and have a training date every Wedsnday. When they train they always have 3 or 4 Municpal K-9 officers train with them and those Municipal agency's have to pay for the training. When the dog gets trained in Narcotics and Patrol, they have to be retrained weekly to keep them working well. The cost of that training can be a burden if the agency isn't big enough to do it themselves. This may be a reason they can't afford it.



Posted by 830.1 in SoCal
(07/11/09 - 09:18 AM)
K9
I know Montebello PD had a similar issue arise in the mid 90's and were able to keep the program running after some modifications. Montebello's K9 program is one of the best ran and I know anybody apart of that program would be willing to guide somebody in the right direction. Contact reserve officer Higashi for details, he is a retired LT, SGT and officer he would drew up the original budget cut program and succeeded.



Posted by News Article in Monterey, CA
(07/11/09 - 03:16 PM)
K-9 News link
Here's the article from the Monterey Herald newspaper. It has comments from the officer as well as the PIO.

http://www.montereyherald.com/local/ci_12816308?nclick_check=1



Posted by CCSO742
(07/11/09 - 03:55 PM)
So what would happen to the dog if they don't raise the money for the handler to buy it? Second, I am pretty sure that he can afford the dog himself without donations. He is a 6 year vet in a department that has a starting pay between 74 and 85 grand a year. They are asking 1200 for the dog. Which is crazy. A green dog usually costs 4 to 7 grand. Somethings not right here. As a handler this just doesnt sound right to me.









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