By AARON WILLIAMS
BEE STAFF WRITER
Published: Wednesday, August 09, 2000
The system has finally gone to the dogs.
Five fluffy, furry German shepherd puppies, bred in the hope they would someday become K-9 police officers, were deemed "surplus" by the Modesto City Council on Tuesday. The reason? They weren't a financially sound investment.
The Modesto Police Department estimates that it would cost $4,700 to $6,000 to raise and train each puppy to become a K-9 officer, with no guarantee that the puppies would pan out. Full-grown police dogs, with guarantees, cost $3,000 to $3,500.
Sgt. Gene Balentine, who supervises the Police Department's K-9 unit, said he started the program hoping to save the department money.
"Two years ago, we replaced several dogs on the unit and it cost several thousand dollars," Balentine said. "I thought there could be a way we would be able to breed our own."
So he purchased three dogs from Denmark -- known as the "police dog capital of the world" -- two males that are on the force and the female that bore the litter in question.
He said he figured three of the department's eight active dogs would be retiring in the next five years, giving the department adequate time to raise its own dogs.
But from the litter, which was born nine weeks ago to current K-9 officer Mika, two do not appear to have what the department looks for in police dogs.
The key traits are temperament -- whether the dogs can be friendly one minute and fire up when a threat is perceived -- prey instincts and the quality to lead the pack.
"We started trying to figure out what to do with these two puppies, when the issue of handler compensation came up," he said.
Under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, the handler of each of the five puppies must be compensated.
Balentine said for an 18-month period, the handler would have received $3,593 handler's pay and a $774 food allowance. He said various other expenses, such as veterinarian costs, would push the total expense to $4,700 per dog.
Carol Schmidt, senior deputy city attorney, said during the discussion of what to do with the two puppies, the issue of economic feasibility arose.
"We asked 'Do we really want to get involved (in the dog breeding business)?' "
The answer: No.
Balentine, who deals with handler compensation in his job all the time, said he just didn't anticipate the handling costs for raising the puppies.
"But what we found was that the compensation for raising one of these dogs over the next 16 to 18 months was more costly than buying a grown one," Balentine said.
Balentine's $4,700 estimate is for raising a police dog for 18 months -- the earliest age a dog could possibly become a K-9 officer. But most dogs are 2 years old before they are ready to join the force, he said, which would cost the department nearly $6,000.
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