Unlike their human counter-
parts, these dogs receive no retirement benefits. It would be nice to see a business, perhaps a pet insurance company, set up an endowment to cover some or all of the costs for retired police dogs. It could be accessed through a grant application, based on the needs of each law enforcement agency’s K9 unit. Sgt. Turbee just broke 20 years in
April with the St. Petersburg Police Department. He did five years in reg- ular patrol and eight years in under- cover surveillance work before trying out for the K9 unit. It’s a rigorous, all day workout, testing physical limita- tions. “The tryouts are given a K9 unit applicant to see how they inter- act with the dogs,” said Sgt. Turbee. After Jaeger was retired, Turbee was promoted in 2016 and went back to regular patrol and street supervisor of a squad. His goal was always to get back into the K9 unit. In 2018 he put an application in and was partnered with Stella the following month. “I had a lot of good experiences with Jaeger,” said Turbee. “But, it’s been fun working with Stella over the last year,” he added, as Stella looked up at him, her tail wagging.
U Y
The St. Petersburg Police Department offers a dog obedi- ence training class for citizens
and their dogs. Overseen by the Department’s dog trainer, the classes are held once a week on Thursday from 6p-7p at the Police Department’s K9 Compound, 3000 22nd St. South, St. Petersburg. The classes, broken up into small groups, typically hold between 30 and 40 dogs. Set up in a “train the trainer” style, the K9 offi- cers teach dog owners basic com- mands and help them train their dogs. The course is free. Additionally, the K9 Unit is avail-
able for demonstrations and talks for fundraising and community events. Currently there are 15 patrol dog teams. Contact the Community Awareness Division, 727.893.7128.
THE NEW BARKER 41
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104
