Weber County, Utah Sheriff’s Office gets K-9 Toro.
At 17 months, K-9 Toro is already on his way to becoming a dual-purpose K-9 in his new home of Weber County, Utah. Weber County Sheriff’s Office purchased the boisterous Belgian Malinois and German Shepherd mix in May. Thanks to Utah’s POST K-9 Narcotic Detector Training Program, and with the help of his new handler, Deputy Jose Leon, Toro finished training in August. Leon describes the training as “fun and exciting” thanks to the many games of hide ‘n seek.
In fact, Toro’s love of toys and games has already gotten him into a bit of trouble. Deputy Leon explains, “Toro has run into several walls at full speed chasing his toys, but doesn’t even look dazed after colliding with them!” “Toro is a lot of dog and a lot to handle,” Leon describes, “but when he knows it is time to work, he focuses and makes handling him easier.”
Up until recently, Toro’s daily tasks have consisted of daily exercise and narcotics training. K-9 has also just begun patrol training, which will allow the Toro to be certified in tracking and apprehending suspects. Leon explains, “there is a lot of training and commitment that goes with being a K-9 handler and for the dog—there is no day off.”
Deputy Leon and Toro should be fully certified as a dual-purpose team by the end of October. The National Police Dog Foundation is proud to have contributed to Toro’s purchase and looks forward to seeing how the K-9 continues to develop his skills.
Chad Ferrin, Lieutenant at the Weber County Sheriff’s Office explains, “we are so grateful to your organization and their willingness to help us fulfill our responsibilities to our community. Thank you very much from all of us here at the Weber County Sheriff’s Office!”
The purchasing and training of K-9s can be very expensive and most K-9 departments simply do not have the funds they need. The National Police Dog Foundation’s K-9 Purchasing Fund and K-9 Training Fund helped fund the grant to this law enforcement K-9 unit to assist in the costs for the purchasing and the initial training for the K-9. But we need your help. To donate, please click on the button below. The K-9s really need your help.
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