Donation made to fund K9 training

A donation was made recently to the Desloge Police Department by an area business to help fund K9 Scuby’s annual training.

Dirt Cheap Store Manager Sherry Weisel said they had a Jack Daniels Raffle, a Bud Light raffle, a 50/50 and a barbecue to help raise money for Scuby’s annual recertification.

“We also sold police bracelets, but the barbecue brought in a majority of the money,” said Weisel. “Country Mart really helped us out a lot with the pork steaks and did an amazing job. When I saw the size of the pork steaks I decided I will buying my meat from there all the time.”

Weisel said her representative from Soaring Eagle came out and did all the barbecuing and the VFW lent them the grill. She stressed it was really a community effort to do this for Scuby.

Officer Brad Judge said there was actually another barbecue going on up the road from them. He said people went through the other one and then came down to theirs and ended up just donating to them.

Weisel said she is an animal lover and would hate to see anything happen to Scuby so she called to see if he needed a vest.

“I found out Scuby already had a vest, but Brad told me he had to pay for their annual training,” said Weisel. “So I told him we would hold a fundraiser to help pay for their training.”

Judge said when Weisel contacted him and told him they wanted to do something for him he couldn’t believe it.

“Normally I have to go around and ask for donations, so I really didn’t expect this,” said Judge. “It was actually getting down to the wire and I hadn’t even gone out to see about any donations yet. The weeklong training is coming up and this will help tremendously. He has to re-certify every year.”

Judge said he normally has to pay for everything out-of-pocket. Everything he does or is required to do with Scuby is at his expense.

“It was awesome to see the support the community was giving,” said Judge. “It was a long day, we were out there the whole time with them. I really appreciate everyone coming out to support us. Their support keeps us going, without it I’d have a hard time paying it. Everything involved costs a lot of money.”

Weisel said she was excited to see Judge and Scuby out there all day with them during the barbecue, especially since it was their day off.

“I never expected them to be out here all day. It came as a surprise,” said Weisel. “It was just really nice to have them there.”

Judge said people wanted to pet him, but he is not just a pet, he is a working dog, so Scuby can’t be pet by just anyone.

Judge added he hates to ask for help, so he was glad they came to him wanting to help the department out with something for Scuby.

Weisel presented Judge with $2,534 to go toward his recertification. Any leftover money will go towards vet bills, food and any other necessity Scuby may need.

“Our company wants us to give back to the community,” said Weisel. “Since ownership changed over they have really encouraged us to find ways to give back to the community. They may even make a donation to the department, but I’m not sure yet.”

From left, Dirt Cheap Employee Mandy Owens, Dirt Cheap Store Manager Sherry Weisel and Desloge Police K9 Officer Brad Judge show off the sign for a fundraiser on K9 Scuby’s behalf that was held and raised a couple thousand dollars.

Renee Bronaugh is a reporter for the Daily Journal and can be reached at 573-518-3617 or rbronaugh@dailyjournalonline.com