Students raise money for canine
In the weeks since Lt. Jeff Michael lost his beloved companion and fellow co-working canine, Player, at the beginning of March he has been trying to find a way to raise funds so the Russellville Police Department can have a trained drug dog once again.
Thanks to a generous donation from the students and faculty of Belgreen High School, Michael is a little closer to reaching that goal.
The students recently presented Michael with a check for $544 that represents monies donated by the school’s Students Against Destructive Decisions organization, their athletic department, the Bulldog Bass Club, the students themselves and money from the school’s general fund.
“Jeff came down here a lot when he had Player and helped us out with routine searches and educational activities so we know personally what an asset the dog was to the police department and to the schools in the area,” Belgreen principal Steve Pounders said. “When we found out what happened and that Jeff was trying to raise funds so the department could get a new dog, we felt like we needed to help him do that since he has helped us so much in the past.”
Michael said he was touched that the students would want to donate money to help the RPD get another drug dog.
“I really appreciate everything Belgreen High School has done to raise this money,” Michael said. “They really went above and beyond anything I ever expected and it’s so nice to know they really appreciated what Player and I did for them.
“This is what it’s all about – the kids. They are one of the reasons I enjoyed being a canine handler because these are great kids, and if I can do anything to keep even one kid off of drugs, then I’ve done my job.”
Even though the donation from BHS was more than generous, Michael said they still had a ways to go to raise the more than $8,000 it costs to purchase a trained drug dog.
“People don’t realize how expensive a drug dog is,” Michael said. “They think we can just go get one from the pound and have it trained, but it doesn’t work that way. They are specially trained to be good at what they do, and having a great drug dog is a tremendous asset to the police department.”
To continue raising money, Michael said the RPD is selling chances to win a Wii game console, controller and a game that was donated by Aaron’s. The winning name will be selected Thursday night. Chances are $2 and can be purchased from Linda Michael at the RPD in downtown Russellville.
