Marijuana Dog Will No Longer be Used in Public

Sheriff Tim Svenson and Benny

(NEWBERG, Ore) —
The majority of narcotics canines utilized by law enforcement have been trained as "4 odor dogs", meaning they have been trained to alert to the odor of methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin, and marijuana.

The pending change authorizing the limited legalization of recreational marijuana has created a quandary for narcotics canine usage within the law enforcement community.

This is the case with the narcotics dog belonging to the Newberg-Dundee Police Department.

In an act of interagency cooperation, Newberg-Dundee Police Chief Brian Casey has offered to transfer ownership of their narcotics canine, "Benny", to the Yamhill County Sheriff's Office to be deployed as a permanent addition to the Correctional Facility.

Benny is a 2 1/2 year old male Labrador/Pit Bull mix who is known for having a playful demeanor with people and other pets.

He is certified through the Oregon Police Canine Association (OPCA) and has over 400 hours of training.

The transfer will allow the use of a quality canine which would otherwise need to be retired.

Benny will continue to be productive at the Yamhill County Jail where marijuana is still prohibited and considered contraband.

Sheriff Tim Svenson expressed appreciation to Chief Casey for the gesture.

"We are very appreciative to Chief Casey and the Newberg-Dundee Police Department for this opportunity.

Keeping drugs out of our facility needs to be a continued priority and this additional tool will make that task much easier."

The new canine will become the second narcotics canine in service for the Sheriff's Office.

Deputy Michael Samerdyke is the handler of "Chinook", a 2 year old OPCA certified malinois who is assigned to the patrol division.

Chinook is one of a handful of three odor dogs in use in Northwest law enforcement, and was specifically trained to only alert to the presence of methamphetamine, cocaine, and heroin.

Deputies Dave Lux and Eric Clowser have been selected to work with Benny.

They will begin their familiarization training next weeks. Lux has been with the Sheriff's Office since 1994 and Clowser since 2007.

Chief Brian Casey said, "Benny is well trained and has been very successful, so we are excited that his talents can be put to good use by the Sheriff's Office, which will benefit the entire law enforcement community."

Captain Jason Mosiman, who is the jail commander for the Yamhill County Sheriff's Office was pleased with the Sheriff's decision to place a dog inside the jail.

"The addition of a narcotics canine in the facility will be a huge deterrent to inmates attempting to bring illegal substances into the jail".

It will be a tool that can be used in all areas, most specifically the work crew/work release areas that are most susceptible to that type of contraband infiltration."