GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Kent County Sheriff’s Department received a special gift this past weekend from the Grand Rapids Kennel Club, a check for $12,500 funding a full-service German Shephard patrol K9 from Germany.
The department says it’s a generous donation now going a long way for the department. GRKC presented Sheriff Larry Stelma with the check at the Pet Expo hosted at the DeltaPlex last weekend. The money will fund one full-service patrol K9 able to track suspects or missing people, locating narcotics and contraband, or even serve as a comfort animals for children in the county prosecutor’s office.
After 18 months of fundraising, KCSD is now sitting at $80,000 dollars. That money will be used to buy roughly half-a-dozen new K9 officers from Europe.
“We will continue to grow the operation until we can put out adequate patrol canines on every shift,” said Sheriff Stelma. “In Europe, the dogs are bred there for work purposes, and America the dogs are bred for show. It’s (all about) the training and breeding practices.”
The goal for the Kent Co. Sheriff’s Dept. is to have round the clock full coverage with their K9 team, saying the donation from the Kennel Club could not have come at a better time. The department produced a ‘thank you’ video and posted it on Facebook.
