Floyd County Sheriff’s Office Adds Second K9 Unit

The Floyd County Sheriff’s Office (FCSO) has doubled its K9 force.

FCSO Deputy Blake Welper and his K9 Emmylou were both sworn in on Monday (06.22).  Welper is a Marine and has been a Cresco Police Officer the past 4.5 years. He has been partnered with K9 Emmylou for the last 1.5 years.    

FCSO Lieutenant Travis Bartz says Welper was hired as their newest deputy to fill a vacancy.  He was the K9 Officer at Cresco and getting Emmylou, a female silver lab, was a bonus for the department and the citizens of the county.  

Welper and Emmlyou join the current FCSO K9 unit composed of Deputy Luke Chatfield and Sirius, a male Shepard and Malinois. 

Bartz adds it is not all that rare for a department to have more than one K9. There are a dozen or so Sheriff’s Office’s in Iowa with two dogs and several cities have two dogs. When counties and cites are added together there could be three-to-four K9’s in that county.

There are two K9 units in Chickasaw County, once with the Sheriff’s Office and one with the New Hampton Police Department.

To help raise for their K9s(funded by donations and grants and not tax dollars), the Floyd County Sheriff’s Office is once again hosting a meal at the Floyd County Fair. The  free will donation grill out starts at 5:30 PM on July 15th on the fairgrounds.

*Pic courtesy FCSO Facebook page