The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office has been celebrating milestones this past week in the careers of two of its K9s.
Friday was the last working day for Sheriff’s K9 Magnum, who is retiring with more than six years of service. Magnum is a German shepherd who works with Sheriff’s Deputy Mike McNeil. Together, they have been involved in some 40 narcotics-related searches, and won an award for narcotics searches at the Las Vegas K9 Trials.
Also, this past week Sheriff’s K9 Krypto logged his 200th narcotics find. Krypto is a 2-year-old black Labrador retriever assigned to Custody Deputy Ian Ur. Krypto and Ur work primarily at the Santa Barbara Main jail where they search for drugs including methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin, suboxone and marijuana.
In early 2020, the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office will be purchasing two additional K9s, one of which will be assigned to patrol operations and the second to custody operations to assist Krypto.
While celebrating the achievements of its working K9s, the Sheriff’s Office also recognizes Tess, a 3-year-old bulldog mix the department is fostering through the Santa Barbara Humane Society at the Sheriff’s Office Main Jail.
Tess’ primary assignments include sleeping underneath various desks, giving slobbery greetings, and performing a very limited number of tricks for treats. Tess is not officially part of the Sheriff’s K9 program, though she is counted as a member of the Sheriff’s Office family.
The Sheriff’s Office K9 program is funded primarily through donations. To learn more about the K9 program, visit SBSheriff.org. Those interested in donating to the K9 program can email Info@sbsheriff.org.
For information about adopting from the Santa Barbara Humane Society, visit SBHumaneSociety.org.
— Raquel Zick for Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office.