Donation helps keep K-9 officers safe

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Bill and Mitzi Magee have donated $1,000 to the Elmore County Sheriff's Office K-9 program to help offset the cost of three K-9 Heat Alarm Pro's for the county's three K-9 vehicles.

Mitzi Magee had heard a tragic story of a police officer that had lost his K-9 partner when the patrol vehicle's air-conditioning unit quit working while the officer was out on a call.

The heat in the vehicle had risen to a dangerous and fatal level, eventually killing the police dog.

Mitzi and Bill, who are local leaders in the animal rights and protection movement, had inquired if the Elmore County Sheriff's K-9 units were equipped with some type of an alarm system to prevent a similar incident from occurring here.

When she found out there were no alarms in the county's units, she took action by donating $1,000 towards the purchase of the units.

The "Heat Alarm Pro" is designed to alert the officer when his vehicle's temperature rises above a pre-determined level. Along with setting off the horn and siren, the system also will roll down the windows of the patrol unit and a page signal is sent to a remote unit, which the officer has with him at all times. The cost of the units are approximately $700 each, not including the cost of installation.

The sheriff's K-9 unit consists of three teams. Detective Mike Barclay and K-9 Maggie (Black Lab), Deputy Shaun Sterling and K-9 Hershey (Chocolate Lab) and Deputy Rick Bohling and Tyson (German Shepard).

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  • This is wonderful. What nice people.

    Reminds me of some nice folks in Boise that purchased breathing apparatuses (apparatusi?) for dogs at fire scenes. Does anyone know if we have any of those in Mountain Home?

    -- Posted by senior lady on Wed, Oct 17, 2007, at 4:27 PM
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