Oneida County Sheriff’s Office Recognizes National K-9 Veterans Day

Sunday was National K-9 Veterans Day.

The Oneida County Sheriff’s Office K-9 team took time to recognize their fellow brother and sisters and thank them for their service.

The Oneida County Sheriff’s Office began its K-9 program in 1983.

The Sheriff’s Office maintains five K-9 teams, made up of a uniform Deputy Sheriff and a dog.

Canines are acquired when they are between the ages of one and two years old.

The canine and his handler complete 360 hours of training before becoming certified.

Once trained, the police dog becomes the deputy's partner on patrol and the dog can effectively protect the deputy.

The canines have a working career of about eight years and a life expectancy of twelve years.

The Sheriff's Office dogs are trained to detect marijuana, hashish, cocaine, crack cocaine and heroin.

The K-9 Teams are also utilized frequently by the Oneida County Correctional Facility and local schools for building-wide drug searches.

A number of dogs are trained for explosive detection.  The dogs are able to detect dynamite, C4, nitro and many other substances of which explosives are constructed

When off-duty, a canine lives with his handler as a friend and family dog.

The Sheriff’s K-9 Unit has five dogs, "Kal," “Enzo, "Bo," "Erika" and "Natalie.”

"Enzo" is certified to detect various types of drugs, not including marijuana, K9 "Kal" is trained in Explosives Detection and "Natalie" is used for Narcotics Detection and Community Relations.

Meet the Oneida County Sheriff's Office K9 Officers.