Two new K9s are training with Ontario County Sheriff’s Office

ONTARIO COUNTY, N.Y. — Two new K9s with the Ontario County Sheriff’s Office are hard at work training for the job.

Shaver is the first ever K9 assigned to the correctional facility in Ontario County. He and his handler, Deputy Ryan Falkey, are training to sniff out jail contraband. The duo will be in action by summer of this year.

Shaver is named in memory of Corrections Officer Joshua Shaver, who died in 2017 from injuries in a motor vehicle crash. Josh’s widow and children met Shaver this week.

Another K9, Ernie, is working to detect nitrate, a chemical commonly used in explosives. He will be assigned to Sgt. Dana Egburtson with Erie’s current partner retiring this year. Erie is named after Undersheriff Ernest Kerskie who died after a motor vehicle crash while on duty in 1937. 

The sheriff’s office says K9 teams responded to 120 calls for service last year, including searching for missing people, nitrate materials, and narcotics.