Santa Rosa County Fl - On March 30th, 2011, The Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office requested the help of community minded citizens and business leaders in order to replace aging Sheriff’s Office K-9’s.  With current budgetary constraints in place, it was not possible for the Sheriff’s Office to provide the funding for their replacement.After publicizing that the SRSO was experiencing this need, the community participation was astounding.  Sheriff Hall is pleased to announce that two K-9’s were purchased this past week to replace K-9 “Gero” and K-9 “Banja”.  “Gero” suffered a career ending injury in March that required him to be retired at 9 years old.  “Banja” was required to be retired for health related issues at 8 years old.  The two new dogs are as follows:

"Rocky" (assigned to Deputy Roman Jackson) replaced K-9 “Banja”

"Rocky" is a 3 year old Belgian Malinois. "Rocky" is "titled", meaning he has had extensive training prior to coming to the SRSO. "Rocky" was imported to the United States from Belgium. Prior to coming to the SRSO, "Rocky" was a police service dog in Kure Beach, North Carolina and was handled by the Sgt. of their K-9 unit. Prior to coming to the SRSO, "Rocky" had certified in patrol work, narcotics, and tracking by the United States Police Canine Association. "Rocky" was the 2010 Region 2 USPCA Champion. The SRSO was very fortunate to have the opportunity to acquire this dog.

"Kaz" (assigned to Deputy Andy Magdalany) replaced K9 “Gero”

--"Kaz" is a 14 month old German Shepherd. "Kaz" was imported from Belgium. "Kaz" is considered a "green" dog meaning that he has had no prior training, but has all of the genetic "drives" or superb qualities to be an excellent candidate for Police work.

These two K-9’s have just started the 400 hour FDLE K9 Course two become ready to patrol the streets of Santa Rosa County, and get accustomed to their new handlers.

The Santa Rosa County Sheriffs Office K-9 Unit graciously received donations from many businesses and individuals.