Christiansburg police officer Chad Eversole and Buck, his new K-9 partner, stand in front of the police department Monday afternoon. The German Shepherd is trained in drugs and tracking.
Marty Gordon
Contributing writer
The Christiansburg Police Department has a new tool in catching drug dealers, and he has four legs. On Friday, the department proudly showed off its new drug-sniffing rabbit.
The April Fools’ Day prank went viral and had over 400,000 Facebook views since it was unveiled. There have even been several calls from other law enforcement agencies seeking advice on how to gain the grant.
According to the post Magnolia, a 4-year-old Mini Lop rabbit, had undergone 18-weeks of narcotics detection and tracking training. The department was honored, according to the April 1 announcement, to receive a $45,000 grant—the first of its kind—to establish the dual-purpose rabbit program.
After almost four hours of comments and several other posts with photos and videos of the rabbit at work, the town’s public information office announced that it was an April fool’s prank.
The next message was that no bunnies were harmed in the making of this prank.
Melissa Demmitt, the town’s public information officer, said it was amazing how the prank took off, and more and more people were sharing the story.
The idea is nothing knew as several departments around the country advertised similar drug-sniffing rabbits during last year’s spring holiday.
Monday, the police department finally introduced their real new four-legged officer to the public. Buck is a two-year-old German Shepherd, which cost the town $12,500, and replaced a retired narcotics dog that was suffering hip problems.
Officer Chad Eversole worked with both dogs. He met Buck last July and trained for two weeks in Georgia. From there, it was a learning experience for both the dog and its handler.
“Buck is not an apprehension dog like Ringo (the retired K-9), and I like that. Buck is more social and loves people,” Eversole said.
The relationship between the two has developed into a bonding one with the officer calling him family.
“He probably is more family than some of my family members. We spend almost 11 hours a day together,” Eversole said.
Of course, that family includes his wife and a new baby, two family dogs and the retired Ringo.
Ringo and Buck spend time outside in separate kennels, but Buck has convinced Eversole to let him inside on occasion. “He’s like family. What can I say.”
The K-9 officer points out the idea of training never stops as the two undergo at least 16 hours a month with other K-9 unit here in the county.
Currently Christiansburg has two dogs, Montgomery County has one, Blacksburg four, Radford four and Virginia Tech three.
“We all work well together and that’s important cause we call upon each other when the other dog is off-duty,” he said.
Over the past two months, Buck has responded to 11 calls for service. In addition to the monthly training, Eversole said the two do a lot of training during down times on normal shifts.
“It never stops, and that’s important for both me and the dog,” he said.
Police Chief Mark Sisson said he has always been very proud of their K9 unit, and Buck is a great addition.
“Not only is he trained in narcotics detection and tracking, but he’s also an incredibly friendly and approachable dog. He’s already made an impact when it comes to community engagement, and we’ll continue to utilize him in the areas of outreach and relationship development. We’re proud of the work he does with his handler Officer Chad Eversole,” the chief said.
Most recently, Buck helped in the search for a missing 9-year-old boy. He will be used for human tracking and narcotics, but he will also find time to just be a dog.
In this case, he just wears his own badge and is a full-fledged member of the Christiansburg Police Department.
For that, drug-sniffing rabbit—he is back in his straw bed at the home of a local family—living the life of a rabbit and leaving the drug catching business to the dogs.
