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Marion County sheriff’s office introduces bloodhound Otis for tracking missing and endangered people
Summary
The Marion County Sheriff’s Office introduced Otis, a 3-year-old police bloodhound, and his handler, Deputy Dane Wright. Staff said Otis will focus on tracking missing and endangered people and is nearing certification.
The Marion County Board of Commissioners on June 11 received a presentation introducing Otis, a 3-year-old bloodhound recently added to the Marion County Sheriff’s Office K-9 program, and his handler, Deputy Dane Wright.
Commander Jason Bernards said the county started a bloodhound program to provide an investigatory tool specifically trained to locate missing and endangered people. Bernards described a hiring and selection process for the handler that included written, scenario-based and physical testing; he said Deputy Dane Wright “knocked it out of the park.”
Deputy Dane Wright said Otis is one of five police bloodhounds in Oregon and that he and Otis are close to completing their certification through the Bloodhound Association in California. Wright said bloodhounds are “sole purpose driven on tracks” and that Otis will primarily perform search-and-rescue and missing-person tracking. Bernards and Wright said the dog will initially be used for missing or endangered people and that the team will seek full certification before deploying for higher-risk law-enforcement operations.
Wright said Otis lives with his handler and that the dog has acclimated well to family life. During the presentation, Wright and Bernards demonstrated Otis’s demeanor and described his training and reward system (Otis’s reward reportedly includes tuna as a food reward).
Ending: Commissioners welcomed the new K-9 resource and thanked the sheriff’s office for the program presentation.
