WALKER COUNTY, Ala. (WIAT) -- The Walker County Sheriff’s Office has sworn in a new member of the team. The department welcomed K-9 Fancy at the end of January as a support dog.
"She was just such a friendly dog with a sweet demeanor," Walker County Sheriff Nick Smith said. "I didn’t feel like the shelter was fitting for her to go to."
Smith got a call almost two weeks ago about an abandoned dog eating trash in the Eldridge community. Smith planned to take the dog to a shelter, but she had other plans.
"On the drive, she just sat there in the front seat of the car, and it was just kind of the look that she gave me,” Smith said.
Fancy has been sworn in as an official K-9 for the WCSO, complete with her own badges.
“It puts a smile on people’s faces," Smith said. "Whenever I walk in the office, she’s usually waiting at the door. She’ll walk up the stairs with me, and the first thing she does when you open the door is she runs down that hallway, turns around, comes back and comes to sit at my desk, and first thing she’ll do is come right here to this chair for some loving.”
Fancy has brought cheer to the inmates who get to care for her around the clock.
"We’ll take her in the dorm with us down there, and she’ll jump up in the bed and just lay in the bed and watch TV with you,” Wright Hassell said.
“I’m a dog person, so I just love having something to take care of,” Derio Smith said.
Hassell takes care of Fancy during the day, and Smith has the night shift. Both said she’s been a welcome addition.
"It gives us motivation -- something to do," Hassell said. "Gives us motivation to stay straight and stuff like that.”
Fancy rounds out a four-dog K-9 unit. Two are trained in explosives, one in narcotics and now one support dog.
"We’ll take her out in the community and let kids see her and love on her and things of that nature," Smith said. "Just really we want to try and utilize her to bring cheer to the community.”