OPD announces newest member to the force!

The Owego Village Police Department recently announced the newest member to their department, K-9 Mag. K-9 Mag is believed to be a three-year-old, Pitbull / Belgian Malinois mix. According to the police department, she is fully trained in narcotics detection and tracking.

Her journey is much different than most police dogs. Mag was brought into the Town of Hempstead Animal Shelter as a stray in late 2018. She was adopted by someone who brought her to a paid kennel and then never came back for her. She was turned back over to the Town of Hempstead Animal Shelter.  

Mag was then adopted by a family that she lived with for about a year. The family moved and decided they could not bring Mag along with them. So, Mag found herself homeless and back at the Town of Hempstead Animal Shelter yet again.  

This time would be different for Mag. She was tested by the Southern Tier Police Canine Association, a nonprofit organization based in Binghamton, N.Y. that specializes in training police canines for their Homeless to Hero program. Mag easily passed all required tests and was pulled from the shelter by the Southern Tier Police Canine Association.  

She was then housed with one of the trainers from the Southern Tier Police Canine Association, where she was taught the skills needed for her new career. Mag underwent two months of extensive training in tracking and narcotics detection in which she excelled.  

Upon completion of her training, the Southern Tier Police Canine Association generously donated K-9 Mag to the Owego Police Department. They also donated $6,000 worth of equipment to outfit her patrol vehicle and ensure she has the basic equipment needed to safely serve the Village of Owego.  

“A fully trained canine like Mag would normally cost around $10,000; with the assistance of the Southern Tier Police Canine Associations’ Homeless to Hero program, we were able to add a valuable member to our department without costing the Village the $16,000 it would have typically taken to add a canine,” police stated in a recent release.

K-9 Mag and her handler, Officer Andrew Pike, will now undergo an in-house basic handler school and be out on the road soon, serving the Village of Owego.