What happens to the Police Dog when budgets get slashed and decisions have to be made? They are the first to be sent into early retirement. But does that really make sense for a Police force that is already going to be short staffed and low on money? One department that recently made this decision has determined that the $3,500 it costs a year to keep the K-9 in service isn’t worth it. I honestly am not sure how a determination like that is made. It would seem to me that at a time of budget cuts a police force would do anything possible to keep a hard working low cost team member around. It seems silly that they spent a lot of time and money on training the dog to be suitable to be a member of the force.
Not that I really want to make this comparison but I think it needs to be made the force isn’t going to give up their vehicles after spending thousands of dollars on them just because there is a maintenance cost. They aren’t giving up tasers or guns or any other tool they need to perform their job to the best of their ability just because they have upkeep. So why are they saying goodbye to the dog? Will the early retirement of the K-9 put the community at risk or was the dog not really fulfilling the role it was intended for anyway?
East Haven’s police union isn’t satisfied with that answer that there was no money in the budget to keep the K-9. “My concern is why it’s not being funded anymore,” Sgt. John Miller, police union president told the Register. “It’s a valuable tool. It’s been a proven success. … It’s a valuable tool for police work these days.” Actually the K-9 program on this force has been around since the 1960’s and has always been a valuable part of the force.
I agree with your post
Very sad!
Visiting from the hop, thank you for joining!