Photo property of the Clay County Office of the Sheriff Investigator Steven Smith holds the attention of Luca, a Belgian Malinois that assists the Detective Division of the Clay County Office of the Sheriff.
By Marcia Barnes
Feature Writer
Only one-year-old and an all-volunteer organization, the Clay County K-9 Initiative is planning a second fundraiser to purchase a third canine for the office of the sheriff. It will be the dog that goes to school. The announcement was made earlier on Monday, July 28 during the public comment period at the Board of Education meeting. Clay County Sheriff’s Officer Lieutenant Bruce Moore described the need for an appropriate canine for the schools and that the dog would be trained and child-friendly.
Clay County Schools currently have three Resource Sheriff Officers working on the campus. The goal of adding a canine to the already strong RSO office would be to create an even safer environment. The dog would be paired with a Resource School Officer. Detective Steven Smith said that the dog will be with the handler and live with the handler.
“Whenever we’re selecting dogs, they are selected for different purposes. My dog is more of an aggressive dog selected for patrol use, certified to track and apprehend,” Smith said.
“The risk we take when we go into a building, when we don’t know what’s in there, it’s what Luca loves to do. Our dogs are easier and safer. It is a huge benefit.
“When you select these dogs you look for different things, a prey drive, pack drive, defense drive, social drive and what is instinctive to the dog’s personality. We’re looking for a dog that is not an aggressive dog, playful, calm nature, where there’s no risk of a dog being aggressive or getting upset around kids,” Smith said.
If Smith can get a dog into the school system, that dog is going to go to school everyday, that dog will be there with the handler. Smith said that as they’re just walking down the hallways he can take the dog and run by the lockers. If there’s any odor in the lockers, the dog will alert. Then, they can go from there.
If they decide they want to specialize sniffs, for instance go into a certain classroom and sniff backpacks and the school principals can authorize that, students leave the classroom and leave their backpacks in the classroom. The dog can walk by the backpacks and detect any substance that the dog has been trained to detect. Two scenarios can ensue, either a kid is bringing stuff to school or if there is a drug odor on that backpack chances are that kid may be subjected to drugs inside the house.
Smith said that this gives the office of the sheriff another direction they can look into, not only to find drugs, but to keep that kid safe from what only God knows they’re being exposed to. The dog that goes to school can open many different avenues to change things. Smith does forensics on cell phones. It is one of his jobs and he said that young kids are smoking vape as young as 10.
“If I teach a dog, train a dog on nicotine, just like I train a dog on meth, cocaine and heroin, it can find a nicotine vape cigarette, things that kids are bringing to school that they shouldn’t. This goes from elementary school to high school, a lot of things can be stopped, deterred,” Smith said.
The canines working with the Clay County Office of the Sheriff are not ordinary. They are certified through the North American Police Work Dog Association, nationally accredited with standards above the North Carolina standard and they maintain their membership.
“When we go to court a master trainer can be called to certify what the dog has been trained to do. Very seldom does that happen, canines rarely get challenged because a dog doesn’t know how to lie, a dog can’t make it up,” Smith said.
Having a successful canine program is the goal. The step now is the fundraiser to purchase a dog for the school and then, implementing a safer environment at the school.
Smith said that anytime you implement something like this you’re going to have kids getting caught doing something they shouldn’t. Eventually, that will transition into kids being more reluctant to do that kind of stuff because they know the chance and the consequence of getting caught.
“Initially when you bring a dog into the school system the dog is finding this and the dog is finding that and you know there will be consequences for that. Eventually, kids will be like, ‘OK, maybe I shouldn’t do this.’ So then it becomes more of a deterrent than a tool to find.”
The dog that goes to school plays a critical role in all of this and the cost is small compared to the good. Eleven thousand dollars will purchase the canine and there are additional costs for vaccines, rabies shot, food, kennel and properly outfitting the patrol car.
Clay County K-9 Initiative President Lynn Smith and Vice-President Lorelei Nussbaum are working to make the fundraiser a success. The event will be held from 6-9 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 27 at Eagle Fork Vineyards, 8 Cedar Cliff Road in Hayesville. The ticket price of $20 at the door opens to a silent auction, raffle, gift certificates and more.