Veteran Jeannette police dog Arees is getting plenty of treats in his retirement.
The 9-year-old German shepherd officially left the city’s force last week and has been enjoying lazy days off-duty at home with handler Sgt. Jim Phillips.
“He’s definitely made myself and the City of Jeannette proud,” Phillips said.
“There wasn’t one time he ever let me down as a partner.”
Now Phillips is starting all over again — Diesel, a 1-year-old Belgian malinois hit the streets in January.
Arees participated in numerous community events and demonstrations during about seven years on the force, a path his replacement is expected to follow.
“Diesel’s going to have some pretty big shoes to fill,” Phillips said.
Diesel was acquired from a kennel in Holland with an $11,000 donation in November from the Westmoreland County District Attorney’s office. The dog is trained in narcotics detection and is expected to start learning how to patrol this spring, which would make him a dual purpose dog, the same as Arees. The donation came from cash seizures in drug-related arrests.
Diesel helped out with a search warrant early Monday at a South Second Street home where authorities said they found numerous pieces of drug paraphernalia, according to court papers.
Phillips has gotten immense community support for the department’s police dog program and was able to use donations to buy a $48,000 patrol unit recently. He holds gun bashes annually and sells T-shirts that help with the costs of equipment and training.
Arees was a frequent participant in community demonstrations typically held with North Huntingdon police dog handlers. Those events give the dogs a chance to show off their skills, something the public rarely sees.
Phillips said Diesel will participate in his first demonstration with North Huntingdon police April 23 at the annual Takeoff race in memory of Trooper Kenton Iwaniec, who was killed by a drunk driver.
During his tenure, Arees came in contact with “thousands and thousands of people,” Phillips said.
He is most proud of the dog receiving the Outstanding Service Award in 2019 from the North American Police Work Dog Association.
“In very few lines of work can you actually say you’re putting your life in the hands of that dog,” he said.
