MCSO sells drug dog

MINERAL COUNTY – The Mineral County Sheriff’s Department has sold its drug and police dog, according to the department.

Former sheriff’s deputy and dog handler Jim Balenger will be able to purchase the dog from the county, said Mineral County Sheriff Ernie Ornelas.

Balenger was terminated from his position in March. 

After contacting one of the trainers from an agency who had been working with the dog, they had advised Ornelas to part ways with the dog. 

“The problem is that because of the age of the dog, then trying to get him with another handler they said the likelihood of him trying to get another agency to do that would be pretty low,” Ornelas said. 

The sale was contemplated partially because there would be no accommodations for the dog, as no other officer is trained to work with the animal.

“That’s part of the problem as to where the dog will stay and that’s why we made Balenger the offer right away,” Ornelas said. “We would have had a big problem, because we would have had to house the animal in a special area mostly because police dogs can’t just be in a regular kennel.”

Without selling the dog to Balenger, Mineral County would have had to pay someone to house the dog until a new owner could be found, even though the county isn’t using the dog. 

Sheriff Ornelas said for the time being Mineral County isn’t going to move forward with another police dog. 

“I’m going to be retiring at the end of this year, and it will be up to the new sheriff whether or not we are going to continue with a new dog,” Ornelas said.

If Mineral County is in need of a police dog at any time, an outside agency can provide one, as could the Forest Service.

“It can be costly for any department having an officer who can handle a drug dog,” Ornelas said. “You don’t certify the dog, you certify the handler. The dog has to have the specific training and the handler has to go through the specific demonstrations with the dog. So much of the work with the dog isn’t just with the dog itself, it’s the relationship between the drug dog and the handler.”  

The sheriff’s department had a formal discussion with the Mineral County Commissioners and with the county attorney regarding the dog and even consulted with a professional dog handler, who’s retired from the Forest Service. 

The handler, who works with the dogs, trains the dogs himself and sells them, made the recommendation for the county to part ways with the dog at this time.

“If I were to get another dog, I would not get a dog that’s a combination of an attack dog and drug dog, I would get strictly a drug dog,” Ornelas said. “And that’s one of the reasons why this one was more of an issue, because this animal was trained in both. You have to make sure you get the right kind of handler because the dog trained is an attack dog.”