More than a hundred drug-sniffing dogs were in Henry County today wrapping up the National Narcotic Detector Dog Association's annual training program which ended with a time trial competition.
The program brings in law enforcement officers and their K-9 partners from all over the country to undergo a range of scenarios over the course of a week.
Rick McDaniel, of Vicksburg, MS, is a competition judge.
"What it consists of is week-long training for these dogs to smell different types of narcotics whether it be marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamine or heroin," said McDaniel. "But not only do they get a chance to train, they get a chance to talk to different officers and seeing what they're seeing on the highway, so it's a good networking opportunity."
"But today what we're having is our annual narcotic competition," said McDaniel. "A dog goes in and he has three minutes to find as many drugs as he can. It may be anywhere between 15 to 25 finds in one room with 75 to 85 articles. It's just a fun thing for the dogs to go through. And we'll select a winner tonight at our annual dinner and banquet."
"Our organization started back in the early '70s and at first consisted of twelve members now we're up over 1,800 members," said McDaniel. "We're represented by 28 different states and even have a dog out of Canada."
Henry County Sheriff Monte Belew says his office has been lobbying for over a year to host the event in Northwest Tennessee.
"We went to Amarillo, Texas last year and had a sales pitch for it and we're able to get it secured to come here this year," said Belew. "It's a win-win situation not only for our local economy bringing these people into Henry County but also for the Henry County sheriff's office."
Belew says the K-9 are invaluable to the office's drug enforcement program, but also serve as a unique community relations tool.
"There's not a kid in the Henry County School system that doesn't know my dog, Si," said Belew. "Being a police officer is a lot more than just a job, and it's all that more special when you've got a K-9 partner working with you, because I spend more time with my K-9 than I do some members of my family, he sleeps with me, works with me, he even duck hunts with me. He likes finding drugs but he likes bringing back ducks too."
The N.N.D.D.A. has over 1,800 law enforcement members in 28 states .
