Efforts being made to buy canine

When the Russellville Police Department’s drug dog, Player, passed away in March after 13 years of loyal service to the department, Lt. Jeff Michael knew the RPD needed to find some way to keep the canine unit active.

But budget cuts are the norm these days and the RPD hasn’t been exempt from tighter purse strings and a leaner budget.

With that being the case, Michael found out quickly that even though drug dogs are an integral part of the law enforcement team, the funds just simply didn’t exist to replace Player on the force.

“I went to Chief Hargett and asked him about getting another dog and as much as he wants to and as important as he thinks it is, he said the money just isn’t there,” Michael said.

To some people, that type of response might have sounded like the end of the line, but Michael decided to do what he could to raise the money himself.

The only problem is, trainable canines that can go through all the tests and have the genetic capability to become good, reliable drug dogs don’t come cheap.

To purchase a canine and have it go through all the necessary training would cost almost $10,000.

“With the economy the way it is, that kind of money is difficult to raise,” he said, “but I knew I had to do everything I could.”

The reason Michael is so adamant about the RPD getting a new drug dog to take up where Player left off is because he has seen first-hand the positive impact a drug dog can have in the community.

“I don’t know that I could even estimate how many cases Player was involved in or helped us solve,” Michael said. “One of the biggest was several years ago when Player helped us find marijuana in a tractor trailer that had a street value of $1 million.

“The drugs had been compressed into blocks and were hidden inside clay flower pots with false bottoms. Player was able to let me know the drugs were there and all those drugs were gotten off the streets.”

Michael said drug dogs are also excellent tools to help out in other ways in the community.

“I took Player to the schools a lot,” he said. “Player was a lab and they are very good with people. The kids loved him and it was a great public relations tool for the department.

“We also helped the schools with random drug searches both in the city schools and the county schools. We were able to get some drugs out of kids’ hands that way as well, so you can see how important a drug dog can be.”

Since March, Michael has been out in the community fundraising and asking for donations to help his cause and his journey struck a chord with Russellville librarian Deborah Barnett, who is a self-proclaimed animal lover.

“I’m involved with a lot of different groups on Facebook who support different fundraisers, mainly for cats, and when I heard about what Lt. Michael was trying to do I thought “Why can’t we do that for a dog, too?’”

Barnett has put together a Facebook page called K911 Player’s Legacy that tells about the need for a new canine and gives people a way to donate to the cause.

“These groups are great because they have a feature called ‘Chipin’ that people can click on and they will be directed to their Paypal account where they can donate safely and securely to the drug dog fund that has been set up at Valley Credit Union,” Barnett said. “The only thing is, we’ve got to get attention for the sight and we’ve got to get it spread around on Facebook because the more people that see it, the more that will donate.”

When Michael found out the lengths Barnett had gone to all on her own to try to raise money for a new dog, he said he was just overwhelmed with gratitude.

“So many people in the community have shown me so much support over this and I can’t tell them how much it means,” he said. “I appreciate it more than they’ll know.”

In addition to the Facebook page, Michael has also put together a special concert that will take place on June 2 at 7 p.m. at the Russellville High School Auditorium featuring popular local groups like Rewind, the gospel singing group Purpose, Calvary Baptist Church’s praise band Face Down, gospel and R&B singers Bobby and P.J. Winston and a tribute to Ray Price by Buford Parker.

Tickets to the event will go on sale Monday. They are $5 for adults and $2 for children 5 and under. All proceeds will go towards the Police Dog Replacement Fund at VCU.

Tickets can be purchased at the Russellville Public Library, the Franklin County Times office and at the Russellville Police Department from Linda Michael, Jeff Michael or Terry Saint.

To help spread the word on Facebook and get others to donate to this worthy cause, visit https://www.facebook.com/PlayersLegacy.

Donations made via mail can be sent to the Police Dog Replacement Fund, Valley Credit Union, 111 Lauderdale St. N.E., Russellville, AL 35653.