Sheriff’s office adds four-legged deputy

EAGLE RIVER — There’s a new deputy on patrol for the Keweenaw County Sheriff’s Office and his name is Dogo.

Dogo is a Dutch Shepherd from Slovakia, trained for tracking and detecting narcotics and is part of the county’s first ever K-9 unit.
The sheriff’s office says the community came together to bring the program to the department, especially Eagle River resident Bud Cole.

Keweenaw County Sheriff Bill Luokkanen said, “Without him, we could not have started this program when we did. We have a dog up and running right now, and the reason we have one up and running is because of a very sizable donation from Mr. Cole and we really appreciate that.”

Eight-year veteran of the department Sergeant Brad Pelli trained with Dogo for a month. They live together and ride together on patrol.

Though in many ways, Dogo is still a puppy. Sergeant Pelli has grown fond of his 18-month old partner.

Sergeant Pelli said, “He’s doing good. I would say he’s smarter than I am right now, so it’s a learning process. We’re learning each other, but it’s exciting. Everyday, you’re learning something new.”

Dogo will help the department search for people who are lost, track down suspects and even sniff out drugs. Because of the donations, the new K-9 unit comes at no cost to taxpayers, but Dogo could use a new ride.

Luokkanen said, “The vehicle we’re using for our K-9 unit is one of our older patrol cars that’s actually slated to be disposed of. It’s got well over 200,000 miles on it and we did some in-house modifications on it to make it function, in the bare minimum, as a K-9 vehicle. But we’re looking for support to enable us to get a new vehicle, specifically for the K-9.”

If you’d like to support the K-9 Unit, contact the Keweenaw County Sheriff’s Office at 906-337-0528.