K9 units are incredibly valuable for police forces. They can help officers in dangerous situations and detect everything from narcotics to explosives to missing persons.
The one problem, though, is that trained police dogs are incredibly expensive. Police departments usually use trained, purebred German Shepherds or Belgian Malinois, but they can cost anywhere from $10,000 to $15,000!
Looking for a cheaper option, many police departments around the country have started going to their local animal shelters and adopting and training pit bulls.
Pit bulls have a reputation for being aggressive, but most are sweet, obedient, and hardworking.
Organizations such as the Animal Farm Foundation have been collaborating with Austin Pets Alive! and Universal K9 to train adopted pit bulls to be detective dogs.
The dogs go through training for everything from narcotics, explosives, arson, and cadaver detection to criminal apprehension.
Rescuing and training these pit bulls has proven to be incredibly cost effective for the police departments, and the training is helping to change the stigma surrounding the breed.
We think that’s a win-win!
Are you glad these police departments are rescuing and training these dogs? So share this!