NEW DRUG DOGS EARN THEIR COLLARS

Police Say Donated Puppies Have Been On The Nose, Making A Former Owner Proud

TAMPA - Sitting beside a box containing marijuana to alert officers
to the drugs inside, Max was every inch the professional pooch Luis
Santana always hoped he would be.

Santana, 26, donated the German shepherd to the Tampa Police
Department this year in memory of his late fiancee. Thursday, he
dropped by a police department hangar to watch Max demonstrate his
training in finding hidden drugs.

One whiff of his former owner, however, turned Max into a pup eager
for belly rubs.

"When I'm here, he gets all crazy," Santana said, laughing.

Max, who is about 2 years old, and Bo, another donated dog, hit the
streets about a month ago with street-level drug investigators. Max
works with Officer Kevin Doan in East Tampa, and Bo, a 10-month-old
English springer spaniel, works in South Tampa with Officer Jamie Bryant.

The English Springer Rescue Association donated Bo to police after
acquiring him from a family that found his high energy too much to
handle. His strong hunting drive makes him a perfect fit to track
drugs, Bryant said. In fact, two of Bo's brothers are police dogs in
Canada, Bryant said.

Within his first weeks, Bo found an ounce of marijuana during a
traffic stop and 21 grams of crack cocaine during the execution of a
search warrant, Bryant said. For every find, the dog is rewarded with
his favorite toy, a small white towel.

"He gets a badge, but he doesn't wear it," Bryant said. "He bites at it."

Max, too, has yet to wear a badge, but he already has proved himself
valuable. Within his first week, he found almost 100 grams of
marijuana, Doan said.

Santana, a photographer for the St. Petersburg Times, said his
fiancee, Alyson Degnan, gave him Max shortly before she died of bone
cancer in 2004. She was 21.

Santana said he often told Degnan about his admiration of police dogs
and his desire to work with a search-and-rescue dog. He was unable to
train Max, so he donated the dog when he heard the police department
needed one.

Doan called the gift a great opportunity "to see the dream still live."

"He always makes me proud," Santana said of Max.