FULTON, Miss. (WTVA) -- The Itawamba County Sheriff's Department has just welcomed Bing and Valter to the force.
Both are the new K-9 units for the department and were picked up last week by the sheriff and his deputies.
"The two dogs, they were born in the Netherlands. We picked them up last week from Louisiana, and we brought them here. We were able to obtain the dogs through private donations through the CREATE Foundation. It was $14,000 for both dogs but at no expense to the taxpayers," said Sheriff Chris Dickinson.
Soon, the animals will head to a training academy that will focus on tracking and sniffing out narcotics.
"When they graduate in eight weeks, they will be trained in narcotics as well as apprehension. That includes traffic," said Dickinson.
Deputy Preston Steele is Valter's new K-9 handler. This is his first time to be partnering with a K-9.
"I'm ready to go to the training so I can get certified and he can get certified. It's going to be a new experience, totally different than just regular street patrol. Just having a K-9 now makes me super excited to have this opportunity to move forward in my career with a K-9," said Steele.
This won't be Sergeant Josh Hill's first K-9 partner. His most recent K-9 partner recently retired.
"I brought him home with me, and I built him a retirement home. He's got a big place to run and play, and we just make it as easy on them as we can," said Hill.
Dickinson said a K-9 not only is used to find drugs. The dog can be used to find a lost person.
