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- K-9 officer Kash, a 1-year-old German Shorthaired Pointer, is still missing after running off three days ago.
- Authorities suspect someone may have picked Kash up, unaware of his sheriff's office K-9 status.
- Kash is friendly, unchipped, and was without ID tags when he disappeared.
FARMINGTON — After three days of searching, there's still no sign of K-9 officer Kash, who took off from his handler outside the Davis County Jail Monday night.
"We received one tip yesterday (Wednesday) that we thought was hopeful, over on the east Farmington side, that did not yield any results. So, we are still actively searching for him," said Stephanie Dinsmore, spokeswoman for the Davis County Sheriff's Office.
"Right now, we do think that it is likely that someone may have picked him up and not realized that he is a K-9 officer and may have him at home," Dinsmore said. "And so, we are making a plea to them to please come forward, please let us know that you have him and please return him."
Kash is new to the Davis County Sheriff's Office — he was donated in mid-September. His handler is also new to the K-9 program and has yet to undergo any K-9 training with Peace Officer Standards and Training, or POST. A review is now underway to determine if the handler violated any of the sheriff's office K-9 policies.
"We do expect more of ourselves and we want to ensure that everything that we're doing we're doing properly," Dinsmore said.
Kash is not microchipped and was not wearing ID tags or a sheriff's office GPS collar when he ran off, and Dinsmore said the sheriff's office is still in the process of getting those tags and devices. She also said if anyone encounters Kash, he'll likely be friendly and want to play fetch.
"K-9 Kash is very energetic. He's extremely friendly," she said. "When he does complete his POST training, he is not going to be trained as an apprehension or bite animal; he will be undergoing narcotics training and substance detection, so he will be an asset to our corrections division and this will be a brand-new program that we were launching," she said.
If Kash has been picked up, he can be returned at any animal shelter or by calling the Davis County Sheriff's Office dispatch at 801-451-4150.
