Pasco Sheriff's Office K-9 Unit Gets New Digs

The Pasco County Sheriff’s Office K-9 unit has a home of its own now, thanks to Leadership Pasco Class of 2011.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held Tuesday morning, a perfect Valentine’s Day gift for the eight handlers and nine dogs who make up the sheriff’s K-9 unit.

The dogs and their handlers routinely trudge through the “worst of the worst," encountering alligators, snakes and other hazards in swampy areas, Sheriff Chris Nocco said.

This is a place where they will be able to heal and rest, Nocco said.

The facility will provide short-term shelter and amenities such as bathing facilities for the dogs and their handlers. A training area will be utilized by law enforcement agencies countywide.

“Everybody who has a K-9 in Pasco, we’re all in this together,” Nocco said.

The Leadership Pasco Class raised about $48,000 for the project, and local businesses donated supplies and labor valued at more than $80,000, according to a sheriff’s office media release.

Leadership Pasco spearheaded the project, but “The whole Pasco community came together” to complete it, Nocco said.

When the group first approached PCSO K-9 Unit supervisor Sgt. Brian Brosnan, he had some reservations.

“I was very skeptical,” Brosnan said. “I didn’t know I was dealing with the movers and shakers of the community.”

Leadership Pasco 2011 President Skip Miller said the group never had to ask for money.

The group was amazed at the impact of the K-9 unit on the entire community, Miller said. “They’re just involved in everything.”

And when Leadership Pasco found out that the unit is one of the top-performing, most efficient K-9 units in the state despite not having a facility of its own, its was even more inspired.

As were the donors they contacted.

“When we told the story, money just came in,” Miller said.

Brosnan became emotional a few times as he spoke to the crowd gathered for the ribbon cutting. He said the lessons he learned during the course of the project will stick with him for the rest of his life.

“I was very humbled.”

The opening ceremony included a demonstration of the K-9 unit’s techniques. The dogs are trained using scented “play” towels: the towels are stored with various drugs or bomb materials.

The towels used in training contain “Just the scent of the dope, not the actual narcotics,” Brosnan said.

When they are looking for drugs or bomb materials, they are looking for those towels, which they associate with playtime.

“It’s all play to them,” Brosnan said.