A press conference was held on Friday in which Geauga County Sheriff Dan McClelland thanked businesses, organizations, and community individuals who raised $26,341 in an effort to purchase three K-9’s for the Sheriff’s Office. In the past year the office lost members of the K-9 unit due to retirement and death of some of the dogs.
Hearing of this loss, John and Mary Wheeler, of Wheeler Landscaping in Auburn Township, initiated efforts to pull the community together to raise funds for the K-9 unit. Taking on this task would mean they would need to raise $24,000 to purchase the dogs and provide the training for the handlers. “They were definitely focused on a mission,” stated Sheriff Dan McClelland.
Over the course of six months, local businesses along with many community individuals funded $10,341 for the purchase of a dog. Contributions ranged from $5 given by local children, to $2500 graciously donated by Preston Superstore, and sparked a community effort that made the dream of expanding the K-9 unit a reality. “So many wonderful businesses gave for the cause and many individuals gave in memory of their own pets, which made it so exciting to be a part of this project,” Mary Wheeler said.
The Burton-Middlefield Rotary, in conjunction with the Rotary Clubs of Chardon, Chesterland, and Chagrin Valley, contributed $8000 for the purchase of the second dog. Bob Johnson, Len Golding, and Tracy Jemison from Burton-Middlefield Rotary presented the Sheriff’s Office with a check at the event.
Fairmount Minerals, based in Chardon, along with the Fairmount Minerals Foundation, donated $8000 for the purchase of the third dog. Chris Calhoun, Sales Manager, and Beth Lestock, Finance Manager, both attended to represent Fairmount. “The goal was to help our surrounding communities in which our operations are located, we are very pleased to be a part of this,” Chris said.
Besides Midge, the Sheriff’s world famous narcotics dog, the three new K-9’s will join Marko, the office’s bomb detection dog. Tracking and drug detection will be their specialty.
Deputies Jake Smith, Ed Hunziker, and Jim Dhayer have been selected as the new K-9 handlers. “It was a long process in which several candidates applied. We wanted to make sure we had the right deputies to ensure the success of the program.” McClelland stated.
Not only was the goal of $24,000 met, but funds exceeded that by $2,341. The remaining money will be tucked away as a good starting point for the purchase of any future dogs.
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Training for the deputies along with the K-9’s begin in April and will continue through mid-May. Once training is complete, John and Mary Wheeler, along with the Sheriff’s Office, would like to host an event in which they can thank the citizens and businesses in the community who contributed and helped to donate to this cause. The community will also be able to meet the new dogs and their handlers.
Sheriff McClelland was very pleased with the new additions to the office and expressed how this will allow for one K-9 to cover each 12 hour shift. This is a huge asset to the office and essentially provides the community with round the clock coverage.
Between Midge, Marko, and the three new K-9’s, the Geauga County Sheriff’s Office can proudly say that their K-9 unit is complete.
