BATAVIA, Ohio. — A dispute between residents and leaders in the Village of Batavia continues after council members voted to sell one of the police department's K9s.
The village council recently approved a contract to sell K9 Drees for $1,500. However, some people believe the reasoning behind that decision is suspicious.
Former Batavia Police Chief Mike Gardner said the controversy started when Drees's handler told the department he was leaving for another job. According to the Village of Batavia's website, Drees's current handler is Officer Chris Whitaker.
Gardner claims that Whitaker's decision to leave upset some village leaders. He said they decided to take the 9-year-old dog away from Whitaker and sell it.
Sources told WCPO 9 News that Whitaker bought Drees back thanks to an anonymous donation.
Hear more on why Gardner feels village leaders are retaliating against the officer in the video below:
"In my opinion, I feel he had no choice," Gardner said.
Gardner said the dog was paid for with drug fund money and donations from the Matt Haverkamp Foundation. The Matt Haverkamp Foundation is a local nonprofit supporting K9s in the area.
"This village has no money tied up in that dog," Gardner said.
On Tuesday, a release was sent by the Village of Batavia through a local PR firm stating that the money they received for selling Drees was being donated to the Matt Haverkamp Foundation.
You can read the release below:
However, Gardner doesn't believe this donation is in good faith.
"Damage control, absolutely damage control," Gardner said.
Part of the frustration for people like Gardner stems from the Ohio law allowing handlers to buy their K9s for $1 when the dogs retire. However, village leaders claim Drees still has two years of service left.
Section D of that law states "a law enforcement officer who leaves an equine or canine unit of a law enforcement agency while the police dog or horse assigned to the officer is still fit for duty forfeits the right to purchase the animal under this section."
However, Gardner said the council is lying about the years of service Drees has left.
"Their own contract clearly states that he is not retrainable," Gardner said.
You can read that contract below:
Gardner said Drees is trained to detect marijuana. With new laws legalizing the drug, it could lead to liability issues for the department. Gardner said many K9s across the state had to retire after marijuana was legalized.
On top of that, Gardner said Drees's age also makes it nearly impossible to retrain him.
"You're not going to find a trainer that would train a dog for a third handler," Gardner said.
WCPO tried to get answers from village officials. The Village Administrator declined our interview request.
The mayor has not responded to our repeated requests for comment.
"You took $1,500 from him, and now you're going to take that money and make a donation? I have an old saying 'make it make sense.' It doesn't make sense to me," Gardner said.
Jim DeCamp, a former Clermont County Deputy Sheriff and K9 handler, said he loaned a $2,000 crate to the department years ago. He said he had a deal with the department that they could use the crate as long as their K9 program was afloat.
DeCamp said he recently learned the crate was also being sold by the village. He said he called village leaders to try to get the crate back.
As of Tuesday, DeCamp said no one has called him back regarding the crate.
Gardner said the entire situation is a wake-up call for residents.
"I'd suggest people get involved," Gardner said. "I am."
