Artis to put some bite in Greene County Drug Task Force
WAYNESBURG – The Greene County Drug Task Force will have a new member to help battle to eradicate illegal drugs across the region. Artis, a 19-month-old Dutch shepherd, has joined the force and is undergoing training in Charleroi with handler Lt. Craig Miller, a police officer in Cumberland Township.
“We have never had a drug dog in the county as far as I know,” District Attorney Marjorie Fox said. “The state police have access to one but it is not here. This will be the first.”
The dog, which cost about $13,000 to purchase and train, is undergoing five weeks of extensive training with dog trainer and Uniontown police Officer Michael C. Garrow Sr.
According to officials, the dog will be able to detect methamphetamines, cocaine, opiates and marijuana and also will be used in rescue operations, prisoner guarding and suspect apprehension.
“The dog will enhance the safety of the community and the safety of the officers,” Fox said.
Waynesburg University donated $5,000 for the purchase, and additional money was secured through state Rep. H. William DeWeese, D-Waynesburg; state Sen. J. Barry Stout, D-Bentleyville; Cumberland Township; and an anonymous donation.
“The dog will provide a safer environment for our students to learn and our faculty and staff to live,” Roy Barnhart, senior vice president of finance and administration at Waynesburg University stated in a press release.
“The dog will be available for the criminal justice administration program and will provide students with one more tool to advance in their field of interest.”
According to a press release from the university, dogs are invaluable tools in drug detection and evidence retrieval because they have 25 times more smell receptors than humans.
Artis also will be used by Miller to educate children at area schools.
Garrow, who has worked training dogs for more than three decades, is a K-9 officer in Uniontown, where he has partnered with his own Dutch shepherd, Sheiko, for eight years.
He said Artis is among four dogs, including his own new dog, Axel, that he is currently training to be K-9 officers.