Starke County Sheriff’s Department Gets New K9

K9 Terror
K9 Terror

The Pulaski County Sheriff’s Department has sold one of its K9s to Starke County.

Sheriff Michael Gayer told WKVI News that the K9 officer resigned abruptly and no other officer in the department wanted to resume the responsibility of K9 “Terror”. He reached out to other departments to see if a K9 could help them. One department that expressed interest was the Starke County Sheriff’s Department. The K9 and a kennel were sold to Starke County for $8,500 about two weeks ago.

The Pulaski County commissioners discussed the K9 situation Monday night during their meeting where Commissioner Terry Young was not pleased with the amount of money for which the K9 was sold. Commission President Larry Brady gave the sheriff the option of including the vehicle with the K9 and the kennel at a price of $17,000 or leave the vehicle for use by a department head. The vehicle stayed with the county.

With that, Starke County Detective Rob Olejniczak will be headed to Vohne Liche Kennels in Denver, Indiana in November for a five week training course. It is the hope of the department that the K9 can be operational in December.

The sheriff’s department has had a couple of K9 officers. The most recent K9 handler changed duties and the dog retired. Officers are hopeful that the newest addition can help eliminate the drug problem in the county.