DEPUTY, CANINE ARE CONSTANT COMPANIONS

WEBB CITY - "Dope seek. C'mon Doobie, dope seek."

With these words, McDonald County deputy Mike LeSueur gets his
partner up and working. Like most partners, LeSueur's is flesh and
blood, hair and bone, a mixture of brain and brawn.

Unlike most deputies, this partner walks on all fours.

LeSueur's partner is "Doobie," a nearly two-year-old black Labrador
Retriever. And like his name implies, Doobie has a nose for narcotics.

LeSueur got the dog on June 18 of last year after initial training
was done by Mike Best, a master trainer with the Jasper County
Sheriff's Office. Since then, man and beast have been constant companions.

"Now that I'm into it, I'm ate up with it," LeSueur said during a
weekly training class held Monday near the Joplin Airport. "I spend
24 hours a day with this dog. When I go on vacation, he goes on
vacation. You get to where you can read the dog, to know what he's
feeling, what he's thinking, whether or not he's hungry, or has to go
to the bathroom, or isn't feeling very good."

LeSueur, the former animal control officer with the Neosho Police
Department, said he has always loved animals. He wanted to become a
canine handler while at the Neosho PD, but the opportunity didn't
arise. However, once he started working for the McDonald County
Sheriff's Department, he got his chance.

There was, however, one catch: The cost. Like many area departments,
there weren't funds for the purchase of a dog. Neither was money
available for the animal's care and feeding.

A trained dog such as Doobie can cost more than $7,000, definitely
not cheap, particularly on a law enforcement officer's salary. Add to
it the cost of equipment like a harness, muzzle, a special reinforced
carrier referred to as a "crate," veterinary bills and more, and the
cost can easily exceed $10,000.

LeSueur approached two Neosho businessmen he became acquainted with
while an animal control officer in the Flowerbox City. He outlined
his plan of using a passive, non-threatening dog to take into schools
as part of the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) program. He
said such a dog could familiarize children with this particular area
of law enforcement, while at the same time conduct locker and parking
lot searches in a non-threatening manner.

The men agreed, and footed the bill to buy Doobie. Donations
sometimes help out with things like vet bills, equipment and food, a
big expense as Doobie tops the scales at about 90 pounds and is still growing.

"By the time he's 5, he'll be a big boy, won't you, Doobie?" LeSueur
said, tousling with the big Labrador.

However, much of the cost of care and feeding falls in the hands, and
on the wallets, of the handlers, LeSueur said.

"You really have to be into this to do this," he said. "It does get expensive."

Presently, Chief Deputy Gregg Sweeten and other members of the
department are working on a proposal to obtain some new patrol cars,
including two for the department's two canine handlers and their dog
officers. If the county commission approves the measure, another
expense will come, LeSueur said, as new reinforced carriers will have
to be fashioned to transport the dogs. These carriers are expected to
cost about $1,500 to make and install in the vehicles.

"We'll get the money somehow," LeSueur said. "Some of the area
businesses have been good about helping us, and I'm sure they will
help us when that time comes, too."

If interested in helping the department feed and care for its canine
officers, please contact LeSueur or Deputy Bud Gow at (417) 223-7420,
or the department at (417) 223-4319.