Local police dogs celebrated on K9 Veterans Day

Mar. 14—STATE CAPITOL — On K9 Veterans Day, Assemblyman Angelo Santabarbara introduced a resolution to recognize six police dogs from Schenectady and Montgomery county law enforcement agencies.

The resolution passed the Assembly on Wednesday and recognizes the service dogs' duties detecting drugs, helping to locate missing persons and in combat zones. All six dogs present at the press conference were used during the search for 11-month-old Halo Branton last weekend.

"As you heard, there's a number of different duties that these canines perform. They're not just limited to one type of thing that they do. They do a number of different things and they have a connection with their handlers," Santabarbara, D-Rotterdam, said. "Time and time again, if you look into a lot of things that the police department or sheriff's department is involved with, a lot of times they do deploy the canine units and they do assist greatly in their work and they've proven that time and time again."

The handlers present at the press conference said German Shepherds are most frequently utilized by law enforcement agencies, though two officers brought a five-year-old black Labrador Retriever and a Belgian Malinois. The canines are usually retired at about seven-years-old, especially since they can suffer from hip dysplasia.

Sean Clifford, a deputy at the Schenectady County Sheriff's Office, brought his K9 named Ramo. Clifford explained the use of dogs can greatly speed up a search for a missing person.

"Dogs' noses are very strong at finding people, as long as it's a fresh track, they usually get on and do good," Clifford said, adding the recognition means a lot. "I mean, you don't always hear about the success stories. I mean, even with tracks, the successes aren't as high as you'd like because of the difficulty of it. But, unfortunately, we don't hear enough about the good things that they do. When the dogs are used and you get a good outcome, it's good to have the recognition for it."

Clifford went on to explain that in the search for Branton, they searched her last known area, but the terrain had a steep embankment that was extremely difficult to track with the dogs. He added the search was emotionally difficult for many officers, as well.

"Searching for young kids is never easy compared to searching for criminals. It isn't an easy thing to do," he said. "With the dogs, the dogs don't know any different. They stay on task and they do their jobs. So, a lot of times we're just following the lead with them."

Eric Reyell, another deputy at the Schenectady County Sheriff's office, has been an officer for 23 years and a canine handler for 12. Reyell described the bond handlers have with their canines.

"The bond is something special. They come home with us every day. If I go on vacation, most of the time he comes with me. If he doesn't come, he usually has a tough time. So, as [Santabarbara] said, the bond is very strong. These dogs are very loyal and they put themselves out there for the public."

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