Welcome to Medfield, MPD Canine Nova!

Welcome MPD Canine Nova!

Many here in Medfield may not yet have met a relatively new member of the Medfield Police Department as she's only been in Medfield for about 2 1/2 months. She is 6 months old, and she is an English Black Labrador. Her name is Nova and she was sworn in as a member of the Medfield Police Department at the July 18th Select Board Meeting.

Nova's job as part of the police force is to be trained as a "Community Resource Dog".

MPD Officer Rob Hain is Nova's handler and he is relatively new to the Medfield Police Department, but he was tasked with developing this canine program and then he was selected to become her handler. He stated "It's my dream job and I'm incredibly thankful the command staff saw my desire and my willingness to achieve my goal"!

There are many costs involved in the training for Nova, and Officer Hain has been reaching out to local businesses and community groups in hopes of getting funding. Even within this short time he has had some success, but there is still a great need for more funding.

As of now, donations include:

• A $1,000 check from the Medfield Lions Club to help with Nova's Training Costs - Her training to become a "Community Resource Dog Training" will begin in early September,
• All Veterinary Services and Care will be covered for life by the Norfolk County Veterinary Services in Walpole (at no cost to the Town of Medfield),
• Dog Food will be provided for Nova for life (on a monthly basis), donated by Ken McGinnis, Owner of Wills Hardware.

Nova will serve the Medfield community as a Community Resource Dog and what that means is she will take part in "Search and Rescue" needs for vulnerable populations, classified as "friendly finds" and she will also be trained for trauma and mental health support (Comfort Dog).

Officer Hain is hoping that more local businesses, organizations and individuals would consider making a donation toward the remaining $4,000 training costs as Nova will be a great resource to the Medfield community and these dollars will be necessary for Nova to complete her training. If he is able to get full funding, all Nova's care and training costs will be from community donations and grants, resulting in no cost to the Town of Medfield or the Medfield Police Department.

Nova (and Officer Hain) are very excited to meet more and more people in the community so she will get a few more chin scratches and she'll thank you with a kiss! Hain expects Nova will become a Medfield CELEBRITY in no time!

The Medfield Police Department has ordered special MPD Patches with the image of Nova on them and they will be offered for sale to the community as a source of fundraising for her care and maintenance.

Hopefully, everyone in Medfield will get a chance to meet this adorable addition to the Medfield Police Department and Officer Hain feels strongly that along with his team, partner Officer Reilly and Sgt. Thisse, they will work closely with each other to provide Medfield with high quality police services and community outreach.

If you are interested in donating to Nova's training, please either reach out to Officer Hain at rhain@medfield.net or send a check payable to the Medfield Police Department (note Nova Training in the memo section) and mail to MPD, 112 North Street, Medfield, MA 02052.