Putnam Family Donates K9s And Gear To Sheriff's Office

A Putnam County family is giving back to the community by funding expansion and improvements for the K9 Unit at the County Sheriff's Office. That includes: two dogs, training for the dogs and their handlers, two bulletproof dog vests, and two fully-loaded Ford Explorers.

Putnam County Sheriff Donald B. Smith said Joseph and Monika Stilwell of Patterson not only donated two pure-bred German shepherds to the County, they also paid to have the dogs—a male named “Lex” and a male named “Kato”—flown from Holland to the U.S., along with an obedience trainer.

He said Mrs. Stilwell told him that she emigrated years ago from her native Poland to the United States and that she never takes the freedoms and the safety of this country for granted. She went on to say that her family was making the donation for the K-9 Unit because they wanted to give something back in gratitude for and in
support of community safety.

The Stilwells’ donation included the money it cost to train the dogs and their handlers in narcotics detection, tracking and patrol.

In addition, the donation included funds for replacement of two unserviceable police vehicles with two new K-9 equipped vehicles and for the purchase of bullet-proof vests for the dogs. The two new police vehicles used to transport the new dogs on patrol are 2017 Ford Explorers, each fully equipped with a kennel cage, special dog mats, a temperature-sensing system that activates an alarm and automatically lowers the vehicle windows if the temperature exceeds a safe level, and a remote-controlled door opener that allows the deputy to release the dog from the vehicle from a distance.

In total, the money donation and the value of the trained dogs is estimated to be about $120,000.

“On behalf of the taxpayers of Putnam County and the citizens who will be served and protected by the K-9 Unit, I express my sincerest gratitude to the Stilwell family for their most generous gift,” said Smith.

Lex is assigned to Deputy Sheriff Vincent Dalo and Kato’s partner is Deputy Sheriff Christopher Irwin. Deputy Dalo and Lex attended the New York State Police K-9 Academy in Cooperstown and Deputy Irwin and Kato attended the Orange County K-9 Academy, with the cost of their training covered by the donation.

The Sheriff said that he was unaware of any other previous donation to the County of this kind, and noted that “it is a donation that will really help make the whole community safer.”

PHOTO: The Sheriff and members of the K-9 Unit welcomed the Stilwell family during their visit to the Sheriff’s Office Oct. 28.