Join the Rockford Police Department for a K9 Fundraiser

The Rockford Police Department has 5 dogs on staff as K9 officers, and they'd like your help in raising the funds for bringing another dog aboard.

As you might imagine, it's a bit more expensive to train a K9 officer than it is to adopt a dog from Noah's Ark or Winnebago County Animal Services.

How much more? Specially trained K9 officers' training costs in the neighborhood of $65,000. Then again, they're training the dogs to cover a few more things than sitting on command, shaking hands, fetching, etc.

From My Stateline:

The dogs can do things quicker and more efficiency," said Sergeant Duane Johnson. "We can have them go out and search for suspects who fled on foot, or look for evidence, and they can do it in a much quicker time than if we had four, five, or six officers kicking bushes, looking for them. Sgt. Johnson added, "[The public is] going to see a reduction in crime, I hope, from the dogs. They are going to see a reduction in narcotics and gun usage. We recovered over 37 guns last year, illegal guns."

 

The fundraiser auction will be held on Thursday, September 13th at Josef's Steakhouse & Oyster Bar, 6860 Spring Creek Road. Rockford Mayor Tom McNamara and Police Chief Daniel O'Shea will be the celebrity bartenders for the night. Admission tickets are $75. For tickets and sponsorship opportunities, contact Kathy Hansen at 262.880.3977 or email kathy@josefs.us.