'Pay for the Pup' raises double needed for new police dog

The "Pay for the Pup" campaign, established to raise money for the purchase of a police dog for the Cape Girardeau Police Department, struck gold, raising $18,000, twice the initial amount of $9,000 set at the beginning of the campaign.

Started by Cheryl Ellis, Southeast Missourian Jr. editor, the "Pay for the Pup" campaign set out to raise money to replace Jupp, Cape Girardeau's lone police dog who retired earlier this year due to physical problems. With the help of local elementary school children and several other fund raisers $18,000 was raised.

With the additional money the Cape Girardeau Police Department was able to purchase two dogs.

K-9 unit to double

The addition of two new dogs means the K-9 unit will be doubled in size. Since the inception of Cape's K-9 unit there had only been one dog.

Capt. Carl Kinnison feels the addition of two dogs will have a big impact on the department.

"What it will allow us to do is to have a K-9 on the streets more frequently," Kinnison said.

Along with having dogs on the streets more often, Kinnison feels that having two dogs will help with scheduling school visits, an important part of the K-9 unit.

The dogs, European-bred German Shepherds, will likely come from either the Czech Republic or Germany according to Mike Ervin, who is in charge of training the dogs. According to Ervin the working quality and temperament of dogs bred in Europe, along with having a greater selection of dogs, makes them ideal.