43
Campbell police seek return of their trusted dog Storm
By jeanne starmack
campbell
Storm, the city’s police dog, is sidelined in a kennel for now, but city administrators and council members want him back on the job as soon as possible.
The 4-year-old Belgian malinois, who with training cost the city $9,000 two years ago after a campaign to raise donations for him, has been housed for $10 a day at Tri State Canine in Warren, where he trained with handler John Gulu.
Gulu, who worked with the dog for two years, left earlier this month for Army National Guard Reserves duty in Afghanistan, city officials said.
Because police dogs train and bond with one handler, not just anyone can immediately take over patrolling with Storm.
City officials said, however, that the kennel indicated he could be retrained with a different handler. That retraining will cost $3,000.
Officials said they are looking for a police officer who would like to train with the dog to volunteer. They intend to keep Storm permanently on second shift unless he’s called out for an emergency at other times.
City Law Director Brian Macala said police have the highest number of calls in the late afternoon and evening hours.
Gulu, who will be gone for a year, will not get the dog back once he returns, they said.
“There is too much invested in this dog,” said city Administrator Jack Dill. “I would like to get this started the first of the year instead of continuing to house the dog.”
Council members noted that Storm has been involved in many drug arrests since joining the police force.
“He’s been valuable,” said council member Bryan Tedesco.