Yakima County Sheriff’s Office introduces new K9

The Yakima County Sheriff's Office has added a new member to its crime-fighting team: K9 Simcoe.

The 2-year old German Shepherd will help out with general patrolling, tracking down suspects, and helping 2-legged officers locate evidence.

The agency was able to purchase the trained police dog with money that was donated to the K9 program.

"We actually have nothing budgeted in our annual budget for K9s," said Sgt. Robert Tucker. "So, all of our K9s that we have, which Simcoe brings us up to three, is currently paid for by donations given by the public."

That includes food, which is donated by Yakima Co-op, and a local kennel provides K9 handlers with a discount on kenneling services when needed.

K9 Simcoe and his handler, Deputy Joel Panattoni, are expected to hit the streets together once they've completed about 400 hours of training, which may be some time in November.