Sheldon, Iowa — Around 100 children and mothers were in attendance Thursday afternoon at the Sheldon Public Library to see and hear O’Brien County Sheriff’s K-9 Deputy Lee Reuvers, and his dog Ella put on a presentation.
We talked to Reuvers immediately before the program began, and he talked about the reason he and Ella were the program for Thursday.
Deputy Reuvers also talked about his partner, K-9 Ella.
When the program began, Reuvers talked a little bit about what the kids would see. He told them that he had hidden a small amount of marijuana in the room, and that he would retrieve Ella from his vehicle and give her the command to search for it. He warned the group that they should watch closely, since it wouldn’t take long for her to sniff out the drugs. It should be noted that Reuvers patrol vehicle had been left running with the air conditioning on, so as not to overheat Ella as she waited for her partner to get her.
Once Deputy Reuvers gave Ella the command to search for the drugs, it only took her about 30-seconds to locate and retrieve them.
Reuvers told the group that Ella was a rescue dog who had originally been owned by someone in North Dakota who turned her over to a shelter when he went off to jail on drug charges. He said once she was rescued from the shelter, she was put through extensive training in order to become a law enforcement K-9.
True to a prediction Reuvers made to me prior to the program, the kids seemed FAR more interested in K-9 Ella than in Deputy Reuvers.
The video below shows K-9 Ella searching for the planted drugs.
