Shelter Dog Enters K-9 Service in Manatee County

BRADENTON, FL – A few years ago, The Shelter Pet Project began as an effort to spread the word that adopted animals make great pets. The Manatee County Sheriff’s Office has found shelter pets make great employees, too.

Gia will be introduced this Thursday, April 21 as the newest member of the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office K-9 Unit alongside her partner, Deputy Joni Zimmerman. Zimmerman adopted the shepherd mix from the Bishop Animal Shelter in Bradenton and spent several months training Gia to be an electronic detection K-9.

Electronic detection K-9s are trained to find hidden electronics, such as cell phones, thumb drives, hard drives and SD cards. This is beneficial to law enforcement and detectives especially in cases of child pornography and pedophilia.

An electronic detection dog named Bear made big news last year when he helped Indiana investigators track down evidence against former Subway spokesman Jared Fogle, according to NBC News. Like Gia, Bear was also a rescue dog and now works as a K-9 for the Seattle Police Department.

In joining Bear, Gia becomes one of only a handful of electronic detection K-9s in service today. Gia also is the second dog to be used in law enforcement that was adopted from Bishop Animal Shelter.

“It’s wonderful when two organizations can work together for the greater good of the community,” Said Samantha Dominis, who works in public relations for Bishop Animal Shelter.

Image courtesy of Bishop Animal Shelter

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