The Stuart Police Department is coming closer to having their rebooted K9 program hit the streets. 

K9 Handler Officer Daniel Irving says they were able to purchase their new K-9 named “Ally,” who is a German Shepherd Mix. Irving adds they are close to having the dog go into service but he has to go through training with the animal. He says they have surpassed the first half of training, which is drug detection. Part of the process with a new canine is the relationship with its handler, which Irving explains is necessary for them to be on duty. 

“ You know, this is a team, this is a partnership, so anything that I’m going through in a shift can directly affect her. And to know that, you know, we are a team, we’re only as good as each other is going to be  so we have to continue to build that bond and and work on it every day because when it comes time to, you know, get out on the street, we want to make sure we’re is as good as we can be. So that bond is extremely important. It’s something that we’ve already built a great bond, but we’ll continue to do even more.”

Irving says Ally will be trained on drug detection and tracking. He points out once Ally is certified  and then it’s roughly a couple weeks and the dog will be ready for service. Irving states that without the donations and Empowering Adair Foundation Grant for $3,753 that this program couldn’t happen which will also help pay for training supplies, equipment, vet bills and other costs.