Retirement Ceremony Held For Beaver Dam K9 Blade

(Beaver Dam) A retirement ceremony was held Friday for one of two canine’s in the Beaver Dam Police Department. Blade is a pure-bred Labrador that was 14-month-old’s when he joined the department in the spring of 2013. Blade was trained for drug detection and also as a tracking dog, useful in finding missing persons or flushing out suspects until his partner arrives on scene. Officer Nathan Keener served as Blade’s handler and says they had a great run. Keener says Blade is now living with him and enjoying the good life. Blade had 109 arrests over the five-year period and 520 car sniffs. Keener says Blade sniffed most schools, numerous jail pods and all prisons in Dodge County. Police Chief John Kreuziger says Blade had a profound impact on area youth. K9 Program Supervisor Lt. Matt Reil says the groundwork is being laid to find another dog. A handler will be selected by the end of this month and then the handler will be matched with a dog.