FIRED DRUG DOG LANDS ON HIS PAWS AT PRISON

A 3-year-old Labrador retriever fired from his drug-sniffing job at
the Carson City Sheriff's Office because of overtime concerns has
landed on his paws at the Nevada State Prison and has cut back on
illegal drugs there, the warden said.

If he can develop the statistics to verify Luke's success, other
Nevada prisons could get drug-sniffing dogs, Warden Mike Budge said.

"The word is his (Luke's) presence on the yard has pretty much dried
the yard out" of drugs, said Mike Cruse, the senior correctional
officer in charge of handling Luke at the prison.

Luke spent about two years with the Carson City Sheriff's Office as a
dog looking for drugs. But last year a federal appellate court ruled
that Carson City's dog handlers should be paid for time spent caring
for the dogs in addition to the 40 hours of patrol duty.

Luke was the only remaining drug dog, so Sheriff Ken Furlong pulled
Luke off drug duties and made him the office's unofficial ambassador
until he found a new home. Luke started at the prison in May.

They have found no drugs yet at NSP, although they did find marijuana
stashed in plastic wrap at the prison system's restitution center in
Reno, Cruse said.

In addition to searching cells, Cruse also is using Luke to search
vehicles in the NSP parking lot. People wanting to enter the prison
have to sign a form consenting to have their vehicles searched. If
they don't sign, their visitation privileges are suspended for that
day, Cruse said.

During one of these vehicle searches, Luke gave the signal of the
presence of drugs on balloons found in one visitor's glove
compartment box, and later gave the same signal after Cruse had put
the balloons on the vehicle's hood.

Cruse said the balloons didn't have drugs, but likely had the residue
of someone handling drugs. When they asked the visitor what the
balloons were for, she said her daughter's birthday, Cruse said.
Asked the day of that birthday, the woman stumbled, Cruse said.

"Most parents, I believe, would remember their child's birthday right
off the bat," Cruse said.

Budge said inmates, many of whom want a drug-free prison yard, are
telling prison officials that Luke's presence has been a significant
deterrence to drugs.

Drugs are a problem because, just like outside the prison walls,
fights over theft of drugs or fights when people are not paid for
drugs occur, Budge said.