HENDERSON COUNTY, N.C. (WSPA) — The Henderson County Sheriff’s Office and Stand T.A.L.L. presented a K-9 Agility Demonstration to the public Tuesday.
The K-9s demonstrated their many skills that help deputies solve crimes and make arrests.
“Most of our dogs assist patrol units in any fashion – breaking and entering, searching buildings, tracking suspects who have fled from a scene, narcotic searches for traffic stops,” explained Deputy Omar Jimenez.
Jimenez explained these types of demonstrations help people understand how hard the dogs work to protect the community.
“When most people think of a police K9, they think all it does is bite people,” said Jimenez. “We try to do this for the community as much as possible so they see all the fashions we are used in.”
Stand T.A.L.L. is a nonprofit organization which raises money for law enforcement agencies in western North Carolina.
“T.A.L.L is an acronym – ‘thank a local lawman,'” Ron Kauffman, the Founder and President of Stand T.A.L.L.
The money that is raised is used to pay for items an agency needs but are not within its budget.
Kauffman said Stand T.A.L.L. has paid for K-9 training, and bought medical kits as well bulletproof vests for K-9s. They also purchased a K-9 for the Hendersonville Police Department.
“These are very costly dogs – about $8,000 when they are somewhat ‘raw’ and about $15,000 by the time they’re trained up at two or three-years-old,” explained Kauffman. “They go into work between about 14 to 18-months-old. They retire at about eight-years-old. There’s a fair amount of turnover.”
K-9s often work behind the scenes. But, deputies said the work they do is noticed throughout the entire community.
To learn more about Stand T.A.L.L., vsiit their website.