Four more paws have been added to the Zanesville Police Department’s force after a local company donated thousands of dollars to ensure 24-hour K-9 coverage in the City. 

“This is the dog that gives us a K-9 on all three shifts,” said Chief Tony Coury. “We’re able to assist officers. Our K-9s assist multiple officers, multiple agencies.”

During Nestlé Purina’s 2018 PetCare Pride Day, employees had the opportunity to meet K-9 Officer Bevrick and his handler, Travis Groves. 

When Rhonda Reed of the company’s accounting department learned that the police department was looking to bring a third K-9 on board, she immediately took action. 

“Rhonda took it upon herself to try to find out what we could do help with that, financially,” said Plant Manager Richard Driggs.

Soon, she was applying for funding through the corporate trust fund created by the company’s founder, William H. Danforth.

By December, Nestlé Purina was able to present a check to the department.

“The K9 unit here in the City of Zanesville and for the Zanesville Police Department is 100 percent contributions,” said Coury. “So Purina approached us and said that they had a $10,000 check from a Danforth grant out of St. Louis.”

Driggs said the donation is in line with the company’s goal to be valued members of the community. 

“For us to be able to do that and be able to work for such a company that’s able to do that, is really quite an honor and makes you very proud,” said Driggs. “Not only the employees here, but St. Louis as well.”

That contribution, along with several other donations from the community, enabled the department to acquire its third K-9 officer, who officially began serving in May. 

“Jokingly, we asked, you know it would be nice if we could name the dog Danforth in honor of William H. Danforth, and it turned out that they were able to do that,” said Driggs. 

Little did they know the police department took their playful suggestion to heart. 

“We didn’t know that until today. We knew his name was Dan-O, but we didn’t realize that they had made that connection, so it’s really cool for us,” said Driggs. “And we get to meet him today for the first time, welcome him to the community, so it’s nice.”

K-9 Officer Dan-O has already greeted some of Zanesville’s residents, but perhaps not in the same way the employees of Nestlé Purina met him Thursday.

“In a short period of time, this dog has had two contacts with people with extensive criminal histories and was able to track them, and we were able to get a capture on them,” said Coury. “It just shows that having this kind of animal, this kind of professionalism on the street is important, not only to the ZPD and the ZPD officers, but the community in general.”

Coury said K-9 Officer Dan-O and his two furry colleagues are all trained to detect narcotics and track human subjects.

“Just to make sure that we have 24 hour coverage pretty much with a K9 availability, it’s big for us. It’s big for the City of Zanesville,” said Coury. “We couldn’t be more thankful for what Purina and other contributors around the City of Zanesville have done for us, and we hope to continue just to build this K-9 unit.”

K-9 Officer Dan-O will be working alongside his handler, Patrolman Brandon Hardesty. 

The department hopes to keep the two year-old German Shepherd actively on the department for the next eight years.