She wears a pink collar, never leaves her handler’s side and is even gentle enough to be trusted around children.
But Artemis, the Beckley Police Department’s new bloodhound K-9, is by no means weak. City officers say her powerful sense of smell — 100 times stronger than a human’s — will help police find fleeing suspects and missing children.
Beckley P.D. has, according to a release, had great success in its work with German shepherds and Rottweilers. These dogs were used for narcotics detection, tracking and suspect apprehension. The opportunity later arose to increase the K-9 unit’s size to four and expand its overall capabilities.
The department obtained Artemis (a.k.a. “Artie”) from 832 K-9’s Deputy Dogs, Kody Snodgrass Memorial Foundation. The organization, according to its Web site, is dedicated to providing law enforcement agencies with bloodhounds trained for police work and at little or no charge.
Duke and Angie Snodgrass started the foundation in memory of their son, Lake County (Fla.) sheriff’s Deputy Kody Snodgrass. Kody Snodgrass, a bloodhound handler, was killed in a motorcycle accident in 2001.
