Patrick Cooley, cleveland.com
WESTLAKE, Ohio – After spending the last decade protecting the community, Westlake Police dog Chico is nearing retirement this summer. Filling his collar will be not one but three new police canines.
“Chico is our third dog, and he’s reaching the end of his service life,” Westlake police Capt. Guy Turner said. “He’s also got a little hip problem. He needs to be put out to pasture. He’s going to live with his handler, Ptlm. Dennis Funari, who has to pay $1 because Chico is actually city property.”
The current plan calls for the city to purchase three police dogs from the Columbus-area Gold Shield Kennels. All of the new canines, each of which costs $14,000, should be in use by the end of the year. Turner said having three police dogs on the force will allow for a better rotation among handlers.
After hearing the need for a replacement police dog, Westlake Kiwanis started a campaign to raise money. Westlake Kiwanis President Rick Grane said so far they’ve collected more than $20,000.
“We’re getting donations coming in every day now,” said Grane, who for the last dozen years has been a Westlake Police auxiliary police officer. “Our Kiwanis mission is to help children all over the world, and what better way than to keep drugs and crime off the street.”
Turner said the police dogs can sniff for drugs and also be used for apprehension.
“The dogs are trained to circle the suspect and bark,” Turner said. “If they make a move towards the handler or the dog, then things go downhill from there. With the heroin epidemic killing people left and right, your police department has now tripled its opportunity to interdict the suppliers and possibly save some lives.
“The other thing that all of our dogs have done is fulfill a community relations functions meeting with the kids and maybe doing a little demonstration. It’s a very nice asset for any community to have.”
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