Advertisement
The Winona County Sheriff Department’s new service dog returned from three months of training Thursday and will start work next week. Blitz graduated from a training academy in St. Paul with 11 other police dogs.
Officer Chris Cichosz spent all three months in St. Paul with Blitz, his partner. The pair will work the overnight shift from 6 p.m. to 4 a.m. Blitz will be used when needed to chase suspects who run from police and to track missing persons.
Blitz is a German shepherd from Slovakia. The department bought him for $6,000 in January after its previous service dog, Duce, was diagnosed with a rare neuromuscular disease just weeks after he arrived. Duce was later adopted by a veterinarian.
The department received $10,000 in donations to pay for Blitz, including his training and equipment.
Blitz will return to training in December, when he will learn to detect narcotics and other drugs.
