Ogle County News

Ogle County K9 Fund Bark and Whine Ball is Nov. 1 in Oregon

Proceeds from event will fund dog food, vet bills, training and equipment

Shown is Ogle County Sheriff's Office Deputy Kyle White and K9 Gator, and Deputy Ali VanVickle and K9 Saint. The Ogle County K9 Fund Bark and Whine Ball will take place Saturday, Nov. 1 from 5-10 p.m. at the River's Edge Experience at 103 S. 1st St. in Oregon.

The Ogle County K9 Fund Bark and Whine Ball will take place from 5-10 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 1, at the River’s Edge Experience at 103 S. 1st St. in Oregon. The event will include live music by The Vodka Boys, food catered by Ralfie’s BBQ, a silent auction and a 50/50 raffle.

Only 250 tickets will be sold and they can be bought at the Ogle County Sheriff’s Office, Merlin’s Greenhouse & Flowers and Cork & Tap. All proceeds will go to support the Ogle County Sheriff’s Office K9 Unit, which includes Deputy Kyle White and K-9 Gator and Deputy Ali VanVickle and K-9 Saint. Expenses for the K-9 program include food, veterinary bills, training, equipment and future K-9 acquisitions.

The K-9 unit is supported solely by donations and self-funding and was recently established as a 501c3 nonprofit. After gun raffle fundraisers in recent years, White and VanVickle decided to attempt to fund raise in a different way with more community engagement. They’ve been organizing the event since April.

“We wanted to fund raise on a bigger scale,” VanVickle said. “We expect it to sell out. We’ve sold about half the tickets already. We’re out in the community a lot and what we’ve learned most from that is that people don’t realize that the K9 expenses aren’t paid for by the Ogle County Sheriff’s Office. It’s all donated and self-funded to keep these dogs healthy, fed, trained and in equipment. People want to help when they realize that and we’ve seen people wanting to donate.”

The initial cost for a K-9 and its training is about $14,000-$16,000. Most of the dogs come from Europe. Along with food and vet bills, expenses also include training, which is required for 16 hours a month. VanVickle and White estimate they do another 20 hours of training on top of that combined per month. K-9s cost about $5,000-$6,000 per year to maintain.

White has been Gator’s handler for almost two years and VanVickle is approaching one year with Saint. White worked with a K-9 during his first military deployment and enjoyed it. Once he got to the Ogle County Sheriff’s Office he trained with the K-9 handlers and put in for the position later on and got it.

“And then I spent a lot of time watching Kyle work with Gator when I was considering applying for it,” VanVickle said. “My dad was a K-9 handler at the Rochelle Police Department before he was elected sheriff. I’d been around it for quite a while. That’s why I enjoy it.”

K-9s Saint and Gator are dual-purpose dogs and can track and locate narcotics, and track missing people such as a child, an elderly person or a crumbs suspect. They can search buildings and they are apprehension dogs and are trained to bite when situations call for it. They can locate evidence, such as items suspects have thrown in a chase situation.

“Lately we’ve put a lot of time in with our dogs and it’s seemed to work out pretty well,” White said. “We’ve used them to serve warrants with the DEA, ATF and U.S. Marshals Service. We help surrounding counties with tasks like tracking people, search warrants and more. The time we put in with our dogs is probably twice as much as surrounding agencies. We enjoy it.”

White said K-9s can serve as a threat deterrent for suspects, which keeps deputies safer. He’s responded with Gator to serious calls where kids have been distraught and has gotten the dog out to help kids emotionally. White said he finds satisfaction in situations like that and when the K-9 can be used to successfully locate a missing child or elderly person.

Community outreach is a use for the K-9s that White and VanVickle have found to be beneficial. They do K-9 demos at events and take them to visit schools. At those gatherings, kids get to know the dogs and their handlers and learn about law enforcement.

“Community outreach is the best part,” VanVickle said. “We have kids talking to us all the time. I can’t tell you how many kids have said they want to be a K-9 handler when they’re older. Starting with those kids at a young age, it really engrains a sense of safety and something that they may want to do later in life. I think the dogs make us more approachable to the community. Because who doesn’t love a dog? Our dogs are docile enough that they can be loved on. But when it’s time to work, it’s time to work. And they can differentiate that, which is very important.”