Dog’s Name to Be Taken Off K-9 Car

Ventura County Sheriff John V. Gillespie has ordered deputies to remove the word Dago , the name of a department police dog, from a K-9 patrol car because of protests from Italian-Americans.

Gillespie said Wednesday that the dog’s name, which is pronounced “dahgo,” was given to it by a kennel in Germany and that the name was put on the car with no harm intended.

However, Gillespie said he has been receiving letters from Italian-Americans protesting the name and he does not want to waste more time on the dispute.

“Some Italian-American people were somewhat offended,” Gillespie said.

Unico National, an Italian-American service organization based in Bloomfield, N.J., said last week that the name was disparaging and should be removed.

The organization, which asked members to send letters to Gillespie, learned of the name from Evelyn Burns, a Camarillo resident who began protesting the name more than a year ago.

“That’s terrific,” said Emanuel Alfano, national chairman of Unico National, referring to Gillespie’s decision to remove the name. “I thank him for taking it off.”