The Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office believes it now has the only nationally certified bloodhound tracking team in Oklahoma.
Sgt. Ernie Mendenhall and 2-year-old American Bloodhound Missy just completed a weeklong certification course in Maryland, and she’s now available to help TCSO and other agencies.
"So, now we’re very excited that we have a certified, police tracking dog that can actually help find missing children, any Silver Alert that we would be able to help in as well as maybe some of the crime scenes we work. If we’re looking for a weapon or maybe a discarded handgun, she’s able to track that as well," said Undersheriff George Brown.
Missy is TCSO's first full-time K-9 since 2017. She came to the agency from a Payne County woman who got the dog for her husband, but he died.
"And she wanted to donate Missy to a police agency where she could do some good. So, we gladly accepted her, assessed her, watched her, and then now we’re glad to put her in a position to work for the citizens of Tulsa County," Brown said.
Missy will receive her badge from Sheriff Vic Regalado on Friday afternoon.