SCOTTSVILLE, Ky. (WTVF) — It was an extremely unusual situation: a city selling its police K-9 like surplus equipment.
At first, that's what it sounded like. But the city of Scottsville, Kentucky, clarified the K-9 is staying on the job.
No doubt there were a lot of questions about the sale of a highly-trained public servant. But the Mayor of Scottville tells me that was never the intention and K-9 Nova will remain in law enforcement.
Here is how it got to that point.
A notice was posted on social media to accept sealed bids for K-9 Nova along with an 8-foot by 12-foot dog kennel.
Some have questioned the idea of selling a police K-9 like surplus equipment. Nova is 3-years-old and began training for the force as a puppy when she arrived two years ago.
The police department's Facebook page documented the hours of work. Nova worked narcotics detection, article tracking, finding missing persons or suspects on the run.
"These dogs have so much training and there is so much time and money put into training these dogs," said veterinarian Allison Fields.
She is not involved with K-9 Nova but is familiar with these brave public servants.
Her concerns with a sealed bid were the questions of who would end up buying the dog and whether would Nova be well cared for?
"So, I would hope that another police force would be able to utilize the time and training put into that training dog," said Fields.
That's exactly what will happen.
Nova was sold for $7,500 and now goes to Gainsboro, Tennessee where the police department there will now have a K-9 unit to protect and serve that community.
It's worth noting that Scottsville still has one remaining K-9 there on the job.
Do you have more information about this story? You can email me at Nick.beres@newschannel5.com
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