GIFTS TAGGED FOR K-9 UNIT

A $25,000 Donation And A Bloodhound Pup Will Boost Wake's One-Dog Department

RALEIGH -- Wake Sheriff Donnie Harrison has received a couple of late
holiday gifts to beef up what has been until now a one-dog show. Harrison's
election campaign last fall included a call to add dogs to the office's K-9
unit, a call that led Thursday to a $25,000 corporate donation and a
bloodhound pup donated by a Garner man.

"This has gotten off the ground a lot quicker than I thought it would,"
said Harrison, who credited the gifts as ways to build the K-9 unit at no
cost to taxpayers.

The $25,000 check from Nestle Purina PetCare should be enough to buy and
train at least three more dogs for the unit, which has only one
drug-sniffing dog, Harrison said. The company also pledged to donate enough
pet food to feed at least five dogs.

Harrison has said he wants to crack down on drugs in schools. At least two
of the animals his department buys with the gift will be dogs that can be
trained for "docile" drug-sniffing duty, Harrison said.

Dillon Elijah Emory, the bloodhound pup donated by Jason Emory of Garner,
will be trained to find missing people. Before Dillon was publicly
presented at a news conference, Harrison tried to douse the eager pup with
a few sprays of doggie deodorizer.

"It needs to be trained, and it needs a bath," Harrison joked. "But we'll
work on that."