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"Rico" Joins the Sherriff's Office |
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Thursday, 17 January 2008 |
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The Amador County Sheriff's Office is welcoming
a new member to the local law
enforcement team – 20-month old “Rico” – a Belgian Malenois service dog. Until
last year, the Sheriff’s office had three canines on staff, however with
the unexpected retirement of two of those service dogs over the past year, the
Sheriff's Office was left with only one service dog available for Sheriff's
Office duties and for mutual aid requests from the city police departments and
CHP. The Sheriff’s 2007/2008 budget did not include money for new service dogs,
so the Amador County Deputy Sheriff's Association explored options to purchase
a canine which would eventually be assigned to one of its members.
According to Undersheriff Jim Wegner, the association learned it was
not uncommon for sheriff’s associations to accept donations for the purchase of
a service canine. Sheriff Martin Ryan
approved a request and committed to funding the protection/narcotics training
costs for the canine and the assigned Deputy if the association was successful
in obtaining funds for the initial purchase. On January 4th, Deputy Sheriff's Association President Gary
Stevens presented Sheriff Ryan with a $6500 check to buy Rico.
Rico and
his new partner, Deputy Sheriff Ryan Clark, will begin their training later
this month and are projected to be patrolling the county by March 2008. Wegner
says Rico is expected to provide a safer environment for the deputies and the
public they serve. Deputy Stevens credited the support of citizens and local
businesses along with the Deputy Sheriff's Association membership for making
this possible. Sheriff Ryan said he was deeply appreciative of the Deputy Sheriff's Association
and the business community for stepping forward in tough fiscal times to
contribute so generously to the safety of the community and law
enforcement officers.
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