ONIDA, S.D. (AP) – Elected officials in a South Dakota county are at odds after the local sheriff was told he couldn’t use a drug-sniffing dog because the resulting arrests would prove too costly.
The highly trained dog, named Reggie, has created a stir in Sully County, a sprawling but sparsely populated area in central South Dakota.
Sheriff Bill Stahl wants to welcome the black Labrador retriever to his two-deputy team, but county commissioners voted in February to block him. Commissioners more recently denied requests to amend the county’s insurance policy to cover the canine.
Commissioner Bill Floyd says a drug dog would likely apprehend more people passing through the county as opposed to local drug dealers and prosecution would be expensive.