Crystal River non-profit helps law enforcement agencies train K-9's
CRYSTAL RIVER, Fla. - When law enforcement agencies need to track someone down, whether it’s a victim or a suspect, they call on their K-9 units.
Training for these dogs is quite comprehensive – both with time and money. Find-M’ Friends, a Crystal River non-profit, has been helping with that training for the last decade.
"We love the training. We love to see them develop, and their personalities, they all have different personalities," Find-M’ Friends president Linda Boles said.
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The group is currently watching the personalities of six bloodhounds grow. They’ve trained around 40 dogs overall, at no-cost to the law enforcement agencies that they are given to.
"The finds, how valuable these guys are, when they find a child or an elderly person or catch the criminal, that’s how the word gets out," Boles said.
Last month, a Find-M’ Friends graduate, Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office K-9 Mary Lou, helped locate a missing girl in Wimauma.
Training begins at eight weeks. The puppies learn how to track scents, adding distance and distractions as training progresses.
In addition to training, the organization also provides Scent Preservation Kits to the community for free. The kits capture a pure odor and can last seven to eight years.
Boles recommends them to any member of the community, especially for children, the elderly or those with developmental disabilities. They tell residents to put the kit on top of their refrigerators.
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Deputies with the Cirtus County Sheriff’s Office already know to look there when they are called to a missing person’s case.
"We just felt it was really important to add a layer of protection, giving the bloodhound more of a leg up to track the person using a pure odor," Boles said.
Boles and the other trainers love the training process, and they say it’s always bittersweet when the dogs graduate.
For more information, visit the organization's Facebook page.
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