LIHUE — The Kauai Police Department’s newest member to its team has four legs, a lot of hair, and a smile you can’t resist. More importantly, he could one day save your life.
LIHUE — The Kauai Police Department’s newest member to its team has four legs, a lot of hair, and a smile you can’t resist. More importantly, he could one day save your life.
In December, KPD welcomed a black Labrador retriever named “King” as its new scent-tracking canine.
“We are very excited to have King join our department because having a scent-tracking canine readily available will greatly assist our officers in conducting search operations,” said Kauai Police Deputy Chief Michael Contrades. “In the past, we’ve had to rely on other agencies, sometimes from off-island, for very difficult tracking cases of missing persons.”
King will be used for cases involving missing persons, child abductions, and wanted fugitive apprehension.
He is going through a quarantine process at the Kauai Humane Society, and has been progressing very quickly during his training sessions. KPD anticipates King to be ready and available by the end of April.
King was donated to KPD by the Friends of the Missing Child Center — Hawaii, a no-profit based in Honolulu. Additionally, the nonprofit donated another $3,000 to KPD for training and other expenses related to King and his handler. Their donation totals about $8,000.
“King will be very beneficial to our operations, and we thank the Friends of the Missing Child Center – Hawaii for their generosity.”
KPD was previously the only police department in Hawaii to not have a scent-tracking canine for missing persons.
