CAN YOU HELP? Oregon State Police’s new Fish & Wildlife K-9 needs a name

SALEM, Ore. — A new K-9 is joining the Oregon State Police ranks, and troopers are asking for help in naming their newest recruit.

The one-year-old red Labrador Retriever is training to join their other K-9s Scout and Drake on the OSP Fish and Wildlife Conservation K-9 program. Together the team will help protect Oregon’s natural resources.

While they say they’ll still call him “Good Dog,” they say he’s ready for an official name.

They are asking youths between the ages of 9 and 17 years old to help name the new dog.

They are suggesting the names involve the outdoors or fish and wildlife, considering his assignment.

Entries will close on June 14, and are limited to one entry per youth.

Finalists will move on to a round of statewide voting. The youth who submitted the winning name will get to meet the K-9 and get some items of recognition from Oregon State Police.

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OSP’s conservation K-9 program began in 2018 with K-9 Buck, who recently retired from active service. Fish and Wildlife K-9s receive specialized training in wildlife detection, human tracking, and area searches to support investigations into the illegal take of birds, wildlife, and fish around the state. Dogs are trained to detect deer, elk, bear, turkey, waterfowl, salmon, and sturgeon, as well as firearms, shell casings, and other items containing gunpowder residue. Conservation K-9 teams have been instrumental during investigations into poaching, missing persons, and other criminal activity.

The new conservation K-9 team will be stationed at OSP’s La Grande patrol office, joining teams currently based in Bend and Springfield.

The Conservation K-9 program is a collaboration between the Oregon State Police and the Oregon Wildlife Foundation. The Oregon Wildlife Foundation maintains the Wildlife Conservation K-9 Fund to help cover expenses associated with the canine members of the Conservation K-9 teams. Donations to the fund support the costs of veterinary care, training equipment, and other essential supplies.