Henry County getting second K-9 officer this summer

Later this summer, the Henry County Sheriff’s Office will be getting a second K-9 officer.

Sheriff Rich McNamee said that the new police dog, Axel, will start “sometime in August or so.”

On Thursday, McNamee told the Board of Supervisors that he is seeking an $8,000 grant from the Washington County Riverboat Foundation to pay for Axel’s training.

“We just applied for a grant through the Washington County Riverboat Foundation (WCRF) to pay for the training,” McNamee said.

He said that the training is both for the dog and his handler, Deputy Scott Bell.

“Once we get Axel, he and Scott will have to go to a monthlong training to get acclimated together, trained together and get expertise from the kennel,” McNamee said. “Scott will learn how to handle the dog, and the dog will know how to work with Scott.”

Bell is an evening shift deputy and has been with the Henry County Sheriff’s Office for about four years, McNamee said.

Axel will be a multipurpose K-9 officer.

“He’s a dual purpose dog for scent detection — tracking, article searches — and for officer safety,” McNamee said. “He’s a multipurpose dog.”

The department is getting Axel from Tree Town Kennels in Forest City, the same kennel the Washington County Sheriff’s office got its new K-9 officer.

“Sgt. Dave Wall has our dog, Uno, now, and he has a good working relationship with them,” McNamee said. “That’s why we went there.”

The Riverboat grant is the third the department has sought related to cover the costs of adding a new K-9 officer.

“We obtained a grant to get the dog in the first place,” McNamee said. “I was able to find a cage for the car — a used one.

“We applied for a second grant to pay for the electronics that go with that, like a climate control box and the door-popping device.”