From pound puppy to police dog

This is the kind of story I like - the Polk County Sheriff's Department saved a puppy's life and the taxpayers a lot of money.

Narcotics Deputy J.D. Maney found his newest partner in the most unlikely of places — the pound. Rezadu, an 18-month-old black Labrador retriever, has been on the job since late August and has already assisted in several drug arrests.

It wasn't an easy accomplishment for the pair.

Maney, whose last dog was forced into early retirement, was left without a partner for the first time in his 19 years as a canine deputy.

Budgetary cutbacks, combined with Maney's part-time status with the department, led the Sheriff's Office top brass to decide they couldn't afford the $5,000 bill that came with the purchase and training of a new narcotics-sniffing dog, said Chief W.J. Martin.

'But I told him, ‘If you can find a dog and train it yourself, then you can have one,'' Martin said.

Deputy Maney put a lot of time and effort into training his pound puppy and now Rezadu has been nationally certified as a narcotics dog. Congratulations to both officers!