Coosa County Sheriff’s Office gets first K-9 program
COOSA COUNTY, Ala. (WSFA) - The Coosa County Sheriff’s Office in Rockford has made history, and more than 400 school children couldn’t be more pleased.
There’s a new sheriff in town, though Michael Howell is still the “top dog” in law enforcement. It’ll be a 15-month-old, 72 pound German shepherd that will be running the new K-9 division, the first-ever for the county sheriff’s office.
“A new journey for the sheriff’s office,” Howell stated.
“He stays with me from the time I wake up in the morning to the time we go to sleep at night,” said William Bradberry, who was selected by the sheriff to be the department’s first K-9 officer.
The Hometown Foundation in Connecticut donated the dog, a significant development for a county that spreads out over 600 square miles, significant because hikers and those with health challenges often get lost in the county’s dense woods.
The dog will sniff out narcotics and help locate missing people.
“Outside hikers, outside town people, they like to come. We average roughly between one to five a year,” said Bradberry.
On the open market, the dog would cost around $12,000, but the sheriff’s office didn’t have to pay a dime because the foundation considered the department a ‘low-funded’ agency.
The dog doesn’t currently have a name, but that assignment has been handed over to the children who attend Central Elementary.
“Kindergarten through sixth grade. They all came up with so many variations of a lot of different fun dog names,” said Bradberry.
The top two leading names so far? Sarge and Blue.
The kids will vote on April 30 during an assembly, the very day our four-legged friend will complete his certification and become a full-fledged member of the crime-fighting team in Coosa County.
Until then, there’s more training to do, more commands to learn and skills to sharpen; two weeks to go before showtime.
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