Two newly purchased Anchorage Police Department canines sniffed out tracks left by handlers last week at Russian Jack Springs Park. The dogs are early on in their training, and police have left marijuana detection off their list of lessons.
That's due to the ballot initiative Alaska voters passed on Nov. 4 legalizing recreational pot use and its commercial sale.
Unlike the Alaska State Troopers 10 dogs trained in marijuana detection, Anchorage's K-9 unit is not getting rid of its three pot-sniffing dogs. Unit supervisor Sgt. Jason Schmidt said that retiring them would be a waste of resources.
The two new Belgian Malinois, named Midas and Clyde, are the same medium-sized shepherd dogs used by troopers for drug detection. Purchased from a Pennsylvania kennel, the police department's dogs generally cost a total of $30,000 to buy and ship across country.
Read more: New Anchorage police dogs won't learn what pot smells like
Watch this video on YouTube, and be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel for more great videos. Contact Tara Young at tara(at)alaskadispatch.com.