GOWAN, FATE JOIN FORCES IN FIGHT VS. DRUGS

Drug-dealers and drug-users who have eluded the long arm of the law may
have a hard time eluding the long nose of Fate.

The 18-month-old border collie joined K-9 officer Louis Gowan in the
Kosciusko Police Department this week after 10 days of training together in
Leander, Texas, near Austin.

"She was a little shy at first, and I wasn't sure about her ... but by the
third or fourth day, she was running circles around the other dogs," Gowan
said.

The cost was about $8,000 for the dog, Gowan's training, the modification
of his patrol car and adding a holding pen at the station. All of that was
paid for by money and property recovered in drug raids, Chief R.J. Adams said.

"All of our officers worked for us to get this," Adams said. "It's the
result of good police work."

Adams said several officers showed interest in becoming the K-9 officer,
but the interest dwindled as they learned how much work it was.

"There's a lot to taking care of the dog," he said. "You have to work with
them weekly ... it's time-consuming. Louis' profile was right: he's young,
single, energetic and highly motivated."

Gowan, 30, will still work his regular shifts, but he will be on call all
day and night. He has been on the force 15 months.

"It will be a lot more work, but that doesn't bother me," he said. "I'm
glad chief and the Board (of Aldermen) saw fit to pick me to do the job."

The department was set to get a Labrador retriever, but that dog didn't
work out, the trainer told Adams. Fate will be replaced if she stops working.

"On quali-fying day, she found all of the dope," Gowan said. "She was
burning those Labs up."

Working on the streets is different, Gowan said.

"There are so many factors ... it's not like a TV show," he said.

Fate will stay in a kennel at Gowan's house as the two continue to bond.
She wags her tail when she sees him now, and the only reward she wants is
her ball.

"She'll make you throw a Frisbee or a ball until your arm wears out," Gowan
said.