From Homeless K9 to Small Town Hero in Training
OWEGO, N.Y. (WENY) — The Owego Police Department is welcoming their newest officer, a dog! One with a unusual back story.
Before she found her way to the Owego Police Department, Maggie was a stray, unable to find a home for the first few years of her life.
"She was supposed to go with someone who had a paid kennel for her and she went in that paid kennel for a little while. The owner never picked her up so she was sent back to the shelter," said Andrew Pike, police officer and K-9 handler at the Owego Police Department.
Shortly after, the Southern Tier K-9 Association found out about a 3-year-old Pitbull-Malinois mix that was bouncing around from shelter to shelter and thought she would make a great addition to the team.
"They went and evaluated her and thought she had what it took to be a police K-9. So they took her trained her for a few months and passed her on to me."
The cost to train a police dog is usually around $10,000 and a patrol car fit for a dog like Maggie usually costs and additional $6,000. With the help of the Southern Tier K-9 Association's Homeless to Hero Program, the Owego Police Department was able to add a new member to the team and avoid costing the village $16,000.
The former stray is now fully trained in narcotics detections and tracking. Before Maggie can go out on a call with Pike, she still has some additional training to do. Pike says he tries to do practice runs with her a few times a day.
"I'll get her out of the car and kind of get her a little bit excited to go find what she's supposed to find and sometimes she'll go on auto pilot and she'll just search the car no problem. Sometimes I do have to sort of direct her to search certain areas and then when she gets a hit on the odor, she's a passive alert dog, so she'll sit there," Pike said.
As a reward, for her findings, Maggie will get to play tug of war. Pike says she's filled with energy and loves to play, but given her sweet temper, she's willing to do any search for a little extra attention.
"She's not real big on the toy, it's more just the interaction with me. I've got a few different tug toys and it's just that fight and play with me that she likes."
Even though she's not quite ready to strap on her police harness. Pike says the Maggie is eager to go out on the job, and even more eager to spend time with him.
"It's great and I think the bond is already there. I mean she's already, she'll be laying down and I make a little movement and she's like 'Alright, are we going to do something? Lets go.' She's just very loving towards me and very affectionate. The bond is there already and it happened quick."
Once Pike hangs up the leash and takes off his badge, his time with Maggie doesn't stop there. Aside from being his new partner, Maggie is also his new best friend.
"It definitely more responsibility both at home and here, but it's a good responsibility. It's really good to have," Pike said.
