New Police Dog Joins the Force
A new police dog named Blitz has joined the ranks of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.
The Dutch shepherd was purchased with a $4,500 donation from the Elks Santa Ana Lodge. The sheriff’s department spent an additional $2,200 for the training costs, spokesman Ron Wilkerson said.
Blitz, who will patrol areas including Santa Ana and Tustin, will increase to six the number of law enforcement dogs used by the department, mostly to assist with searches of suspects, Wilkerson said.
The 3-year-old Blitz replaces a dog that retired two years ago. Wilkerson said that the delay was due in part to budget restraints after Orange County’s late 1994 bankruptcy filing.
Elks secretary Dick Wroble said Blitz is the third dog that his organization has donated to law enforcement organizations.
“This was a good cause,” Wroble said. “A lot of people benefit.”
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