Police Dog Will Return to Work

Baro, a police dog that specializes in sniffing out narcotics, will be returning to work soon.

Police Officer Andrew Stinson, who is on into missing union funds, turned over Baro to the department on Nov. 19, police Chief Michael Kehoe said.

"The dog is going to be redeployed," Kehoe said. "There was some uncertainty with the K-9 program. We didn't want to lose it."

Eight officers have asked to be named Baro's new handler, and they will go through panel interviews with K-9 experts before being chosen, Kehoe said.

Stinson, the former president of the police union, and Sgt. Domenic Costello, the former treasurer, was placed on paid administrative leave on Oct. 15 after being accused of taking a significant amount of money from the union, officials said.

At the time, Baro lived with Stinson and so the German shepherd also went on leave. Kehoe, who turned the investigation over to Danbury police to conduct, said the case into missing union funds remains under investigation with no firm completion date.

"Because there's an uncertainty of the length of time this could take, I think it was important to have a short-term plan in place, as well as a long-term plan," Kehoe said. "There's certainly an agency need for a K-9 and the uncertainty of the whole program was what drove us to make some plans."

Police arranged for Stinson to take Baro to the veterinarian's office in Sandy Hook, a "neutral site," where another officer took possession of the dog and brought him to the Connecticut National Guard's K-9 facility across the road from Fairfield Hills, Kehoe said.

Baro, who will turn 8-years-old in March, is originally from the Czech republic and has been working for Newtown police since March, 2005, Kehoe said. The German shepherd was trained and used to help police uncover narcotics as well as pick up other scents.

Master trainers, including the original one involved in the development of Baro for Newtown's K-9 unit, said Baro will have no problems transitioning to another handler, Kehoe said. The cost of replacing Baro in the department ranges from $20,000 to $30,000, Kehoe said.

The 928th Military Police kennel where Baro is staying rarely accepts non-military dogs into its kennel but because the facility is in Newtown, an exception was made, kennel master, Sgt. Jimmie D. Smith, said.

Re-assigning a canine to another handler is fairly common and similar to when a new owner adopts a dog from the pound, Smith said. In some cases, dogs can become despondent when they are separated from their handlers, but that is rare, and in Baro's case, he appears to be in good health and is responding and adjusting well, Smith said.

"He's panting," Smith said of Baro. "He's ready to go."

Smith, who can only speak to how the military trains its dogs, said Baro has several years of service left in him. Puppies take more work to train while dogs that are 10-years-old or older can sometimes be taken out of service due to age while still others remain in service well after that, Smith said.

"Seven to 8-years-old is the prime," Smith said. "That's the perfect age."

In the military, choosing a new handler for a dog requires taking into account the person's size and temperament, Smith said. Too big of a person and the dog can sometimes be too intimidated to work effectively. If the dog is aggressive, the handler has to be of a similar temperament or know how to handle that.

The first part of assigning a new handler to a dog is to make sure the two bond, and that typically means giving the pair time to play as well as having the handler perform all the grooming duties on the dog, Smith said.

"It builds a good rapport," he said, adding that after that trust has been built, training of work duties begins.

It is unclear where the training of Baro and his new handler will be done. Smith said he is seeking permission to use the military facility for the training.

Kehoe said he expects that it will take about two months before the department's K-9 unit is back in service. Being named Baro's new handler is a coveted job, he said.

"We have several people who are interested," Kehoe said. "It's a very high-profile job."

Editor's note: Jimmie D. Smith holds a rank of sergeant first class. His rank was incorrect in an earlier version of this article.