Shep, Kilo bring new life to Corbin police K-9 program

It was an unfortunate turn of fate that left the Corbin Police Department’s prolific K-9 program with only one aging dog and a handler on the verge of quitting.
Saige, a black Labrador Retriever that was an eight-year-veteran of the police force, died suddenly in Nov. 2004 from a heart ailment.
“It was hard for me,” said K-9 officer Glen Taylor, Saige’s handler for six months before his tragic death. “He worked with me every day. We did a lot of stuff together … I almost left the K-9 program.”
Ozzy, a 12-and-a-half-year-old, nine-year member of the program was beginning to develop hip problems and had to be lifted in and out of a vehicle kennel designed for the dogs.
But as luck would have it, things got a whole lot better for the K-9 program earlier this month when a message came across a special network utilized by law enforcement agencies … a message no one would have expected, but one that dispatchers in the Corbin 911 Communications Center had been told to be on the lookout for, just in case.
Sgt. Jeff Sparks, a K-9 Officer with the Fleming-Neon Police Department had announced his intention to retire and he had not one, but two young trained K-9 dogs – a Labrador Retriever named Kilo and a German Shephard named Shep. Both dogs were being sold to the first takers for a mere $550. Trained K-9 drug detection dogs are worth between $8,000 to $10,000 each normally.
“We were just lucky this officer that retired had two dogs,” said Colonel Steve Lundy, who oversees the K-9 program at the department. “That was a rare thing. It was a real opportunity for us.”
Within five minutes of receiving the message, Taylor had Sparks on the telephone. The next day, Corbin police had purchased the dogs.
Lundy, who first began training K-9 dogs in the U.S. Air Force in 1972, said the program has been a successful one at Corbin. Ozzy was retired after Shep and Kilo arrived. Lundy said Ozzy alone probably found in excess of $50,000 in just drugs. He said the department’s two new dogs appear well trained and efficient.
“They are very good. We hope to make them even better, that’s our goal,” Lundy said. “Any dog has a great sense of smell if you can teach him. It’s just a game to them. The game is, if they find this funny smelling stuff, they get a reward … whether it’s a ball, a towel or a Frisbee doesn’t matter.”
The dogs have been with the department for several weeks and have already been used in the field.
K-9 Officer Brandon White, who still keeps Ozzy at his home, said he instantly formed a bond with Kilo. He handled Ozzy for six years before the dog’s retirement.
“There’s a lot of responsibility that goes along with them because they live with you at home. It’s just a routine and you take care of them and train constantly,” White said. “We train with them every day. It’s a constant relationship between dog an officer.”
Both Kilo and Shep are trained to sniff out just about any type of illegal drug and many opium-based prescription medications. The dogs are also trained to track.
Lundy said the dogs are very accurate and invaluable to authorities who often face the daunting task of finding well-hidden drugs in cars or homes. He gives an example of drugs hidden inside tires.
“Without the dogs, we could never find all that,” he said. “It would be impossible.”
Corbin Police Chief Carson Mullins said the U.S. Supreme Court has recently recognized the accuracy of K-9 dogs as it pertains to obtaining search warrants. Lundy says the reasons are obvious.
“A dog doesn’t know how to lie,” he said. “If he smells that odor that he’s trained to alert on, which is drugs, then he’s going to let you know it’s there. There’s no way he can make it up.”
Lundy added that the dogs are rarely fooled because, unlike humans, dogs can separate one scent from another.
During a training session Monday, White and Taylor took turns hiding marijuana near the police department. The dogs easily located the drug and were rewarded with some playtime.
“When I got back to Corbin with the dogs, I was glad I stayed in the K-9 program,” Taylor said. “We’ve got the community behind us, that’s very obvious. The community wants us to have these dogs.”
Kilo and Shep were purchased with a $500 donation from Shea’s Fine Jewelry and S&J Designs in downtown Corbin.
“We love animals. I have three dogs and love them,” owner Shea Hensley said. “We are just proud of our police department and anything we can do to help them in any way through our store, we will.”
Lundy said his experience with K-9 dogs over the years has been a positive one. The hardest part of training is getting the handlers to learn to trust the dogs.
“I’ve trained a lot of dogs and a lot of people. The dogs were always easy and the people were hard,” he said. “The dog will learn to do it and how to get out of doing it before the handler will learn how to make him do it every time. It’s comical to watch … If they will just trust the dog and listen to him, they will find out the dog knows what it’s doing every time.”