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AI- 49471
Commissioners Court
Meeting Date: 11/23/2020  
Accept Donation of Accelerant Detection Dog
Submitted By: Monica Love
Department: Fire Marshal  
Request Type: CONSENT Agenda Area: Miscellaneous

Information
Department Action
 Matt Jones, Deputy Fire Marshal, is the handler of an accelerant detection dog (Sadie) which he has been working with for the past 7 years. Sadie was obtained through a program administered by State Farm Insurance. There are currently 90 handler/dog teams disbursed across the country by this program. Now that Sadie is approaching 7 years of service the time has come to allow her to retire. State Farm has expressed an interest in retaining Matt in the program and are fully supportive of Matt receiving another dog. The county will agree to provide veterinarian care, food and yearly recertification. Misty Brown has agreed to assist with the veterinarian care and food. Sadie has been in service with us for 4 years. The current County budget for this program is 876.00 which has shown to be more than adequate over the course of our participation in this program. There are many tangible benefits this program offers to the Fire Marshal’s Office. In areas where a dog is present there is a decrease of almost 50% in the amount of intentionally set fires. In the instance of a suspicious fire Sadie saves a tremendous amount of time by identifying areas from which to take samples. Samples identified by the dog have a higher probability of being positive than those that are not. Lab fees can become costly when several false positives are sent in for testing. The nationwide average for successful prosecution of arson is 12%. The successful prosecution rate with the addition of a dog rises to 53%. Sadie has been a tremendous public relations ambassador. Having been a shelter dog herself she has assisted with adoption days at the shelter. During fire prevention week she has been welcomed by the children in school as we spread the message of fire safety. Sadie’s presence has also had a positive effect on overall insurance rates in our region. I am respectfully requesting the court to consider and approve accepting a new accelerant dog from the State Farm Arson Canine Training Scholarship program.
Purchasing Department Action
Request Commissioners' Court consideration and any action regarding the approval for the Fire Marshal's department to accept donation of accelerant detection dog from State Farm Insurance program and authorization for county to provide veterinarian care, food and yearly recertification. gz
HR and/or IT Action
Budget Department Action
Budgeted funds available in the amount of $876 to cover the cost of veterinarian care, food, yearly recertification and other animal care related costs. (0001) - General Fund.
Auditor's Office Action
Funds available in the General Fund.
Commissioners Court
Accept the donation of an accelerant detection dog from State Farm Insurance program, and further authorize the county to provide veterinarian care, food, and yearly recertification, Fire Marshal. 

Budget Information
Information about available funds
Budgeted: Funds Available: Adjustment: Amount Available: 876.00
Unbudgeted: Funds NOT Available: Amendment:
Account Code(s) for Available Funds
1: 0001-57001-0001-64-30-0000-626583-
Fund Transfers
Remarks:
Attachments
Draft Court Order
Court Order 2020-1171-11-23
memo to court -
49471_County Canine Asset Summary.pdf
K-9 training

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