Ohio County Fiscal Court approves surplus of sheriff’s K-9 ‘Astro’; handler to keep the dog

The Ohio County Fiscal Court voted Thursday to surplus a sheriff's office canine known as Astro and allow the dog's current handler to keep the animal. The sheriff told the court Astro is about six years old and is showing health issues; the sheriff asked the court to surplus the dog so the handler may keep him rather than continue duty.
The sheriff said, “He's going on 6 years of age. We're starting to see a little bit of a health issue with him. So instead of keep working and making him continue to hurt, we want a request that we were surplus him, let him live out the rest of his life as a normal dog with the handler that has him now.” The court moved and seconded the request and recorded the affirmative voice vote that carried the surplus.
Court members noted Astro’s past service in narcotics arrests and seizures; one member said the canine had “more than paid for himself as far as drug seizures.” The sheriff indicated the handler, identified in the transcript as Kelsey Hamler, would be the purchaser and new owner following the surplus process.
The action documented at the meeting was the surplus of county property (the K-9 unit dog) and the allowance for the handler to buy the dog; the court did not discuss replacement procurement details at the meeting.