In 2004, the Great Falls Police Department officially welcomed a K-9 unit to the team.

When K-9 York retired in December, the force dwindled from three to two police dogs.

And with another retirement on the horizon, a local effort is hoping to raise the funds to bring two new K-9 cops to the city.
______________________________________________________

Meet K-9 Kelly.

At 8 years old, and just over six years of service with the Great Falls PD under her belt, retirement is right around the corner.

“You know, you can really see the effects of a hard day’s work the next day,” notes Officer Rich LaBard, Kelly’s handler. “Her day’s getting close to where it’s going to be time to call it quits.”

Just don’t tell that to Kelly.

Put her in the patrol car; she’s raring to go.

Let her loose on a perp or on a search for narcotics; she’s clearly in her element.

But by next summer, K-9 Kelly will be trading in a life of commands and crime-fighting for Frisbee and fetch.

“It’s weird. This has been my assignment for the last 5 ½, almost 6 years, so it’s a little surreal,” LaBard shares.

And that leaves an already strained K-9 unit of two officers with just one.

That’s where Cyndi Baker comes in. Noticing the budget crisis within the GFPD K-9 program, she spearheaded a fundraising campaign in partnership with the department, seeking to bring on two new K-9 officers.

“It’s highly important that the city get back to three K-9 units. That’s the optimum for a city the size of Great Falls, so that there’s around-the-clock coverage with K-9’s all the time,” she says.

The kind of coverage that allows for officer safety, the ability to meet search warrants and education.

“We have all kinds of community groups, school groups and people that want us to do demonstrations, safety talks and a lot of that, we can’t do, simply because we’re working at night time, so overtime becomes an issue. But when we had three dogs, we were able to do just about anything they wanted,” LaBard tells us.

Getting the unit back up to three comes with a hefty price tag; $18,000 per dog.

“It’s not just the purchase of the dog, that’s to outfit the patrol car, part of that cost goes into a kennel. What that money does is get us a dog, send us a handler to North Carolina and gets them back here and on the street,” explains LaBard.

“Right now, we’re mostly just contacting businesses and just getting the word out that we are doing this fundraiser,” Baker adds.

A fundraiser that hopes to have the new K-9’s trained and ready to go by next summer, for a seamless transition and a worry-free retirement for Kelly.

“She’s my buddy. She’s just my dog,” LaBard says.

In the seven years police dogs have been with the department, K-9’s have been responsible for the removal of over 31 pounds of narcotics and the capture of some 83 criminals.

$36,000 is needed to purchase the two dogs, which also includes officer training with the animals for 10 weeks at a North Carolina training facility. The price tag also covers the outfitting of the K-9 vehicle as well as transportation costs.

If you would like to contribute toward the purchase of the two K-9’s, your tax-deductible checks should be made payable to:

Great Falls Community Foundation K-9 Fund
P.O. Box 3093
Great Falls, MT 59403

For more information, contact Cyndi Baker at 781-4172, Cleve Loney at 788-8053 or the Great Falls Police Department at 771-1180.