FUTURE UNCERTAIN FOR K-9 LIZZY

Even the smallest amount of drugs won't get past Officer K-9 Lizzy.

The drug dog is a 6-year-old Belgian Malinois, imported from the
Netherlands, said her partner-in-crime Sgt. Leo Mioduszewski of CMU Police.

"Nothing can mask the smell of drugs," Mioduszewski said. "You're not going
to fool our dog."

Lizzy responds only to Dutch commands. She is trained in drug detection and
tracking.

"So when I got partnered up with her I had to learn eight or nine different
Dutch terms so I could communicate with her," he said.

Mioduszewski said she can detect marijuana, crack cocaine, powder cocaine,
heroin, methamphetamines, ecstasy and hashish.

CMU's K-9 Unit has been servicing the campus and community since May 15,
1998. It developed through funds from CMU Police, the Office of Residence
Life and the Dean of Students Office.

However, there might not be a K-9 Unit for that much longer, said Police
Chief Stan Dinius. And, it could very well be Lizzy's last year.

Mioduszewski is one of the candidates running for Sheriff for Isabella
County. If he is elected in November, Lizzy's career as a drug dog will
end, Dinius said. There is a bond between the dog handler and drug dog that
can't ever be broken.

"Eight to nine years is the average life for police dogs staying with the
police agencies," Dinius said. "We do like her ---- Lizzy's been very good
to our department."

Dinius said the contract with Mioduszewski, who is the dog handler, will
allow him to buy Lizzy. Purchasing another drug dog isn't in the plans yet
for CMU Police.

"The university owns her, but I do bring her home every day because we want
a strong bond between the handler and the K-9," Mioduszewski said.

Six years ago, the three university departments put their funds together
for a K-9 Unit, which cost around $35,000 for the drug dog, police car and
a kennel put up behind Mioduszewski's garage. CMU Police at that time
didn't have enough money to purchase the dog on their own.

"The first time we got her our drug arrests went up over five in a half
times the amount they did with out her the previous year," he said.

Mioduszewski said Lizzy has been extremely accurate with drug searches and
she is very well-respected in the law enforcement community.

Lizzy has assisted the Bay Area Narcotics Enforcement Team, Mount Pleasant
Police Department, Isabella County Sheriff's Department and Michigan State
Police with a number of drug searches. In the searches, Lizzy found illegal
drugs in seven of the 10 calls, according to CMU Police.

Mioduszewski said he'll always remember one of the first calls they got
together assisting the sheriff's department at an off-campus location.

"You hear that dogs have very sensitive noses. There had been a U-Haul
involved in an accident and they called Lizzy because they found a
marijuana pipe in the vehicle," he said. "I brought her around to the cab
of the truck and all the doors were shut and the windows were rolled up
when Lizzy alerted me outside the passenger doors."

Mioduszewski told the deputy that there was something inside the vehicle.

"We started searching and we couldn't find anything. I was starting to
wonder 'boy, I hope she didn't make a mistake'," he said. "We ended up
finding in between the seat just one little leaflet of marijuana. Lizzy was
able to smell that outside with all the windows closed."

Lizzy is scheduled to participate in this year's homecoming weekend parade.