State patrol opens canine-training facility

MARYSVILLE, Ohio (AP)

The State Highway Patrol has opened its statewide training facility for police dogs used by the patrol and other law-enforcement agencies in Ohio.

The $1.4 million facility formally opened Monday in Marysville in central Ohio. The site feature classrooms, offices, dorms, kennels and a training building. It will be used to train new dogs and handlers for the patrol and other departments, as well as for required ongoing training.

The patrol has trained 43 dogs since its training program started in 2015, including 31 for the patrol and 12 for other agencies. Officials say the facility in Marysville was funded by appropriations in the Ohio Department of Public Safety capital budget

Patrol spokesman Lt. Robert Sellers says the facility is the first of its kind in the Midwest.