Somerville— Suffolk County Sheriff Andrea J. Cabral and the Sheriff’s Canine Unit is pleased to announce that it has received a $5,000 donation from Milk–Bone Corporation, a division of Kraft Foods, in partnership with Shaw’s Supermarkets for the purchase of their newest police dog named Luka. Luka, a black Labrador Retriever, is currently being trained for use in drug searches at the Sheriff’s Department. The donation was made through the Milk–Bone Canine Heroes Program.

At a ceremony in the parking lot of Shaw’s Supermarket at 14 McGrath Highway in Somerville on Thursday, August 4, Suffolk County Sheriff Andrea Cabral and Superintendent of Training and Intelligence Division, Viktor Theiss received the ceremonial donation in the form of a check from Milk–Bone and Shaw’s. On hand to present the check was Curtis Bolden for Milk–Bone and Rick Trembaly for Shaw’s. Sheriff Cabral thanked both Milk–Bone and Shaw’s for reaching out to the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department with their donation. “Without the support from these two agencies, we would not have been able to acquire Luka,” commented Mr. Theiss. The newly purchased canine was on hand at the ceremony along with her partner, Officer Cory Lewis.

After the ceremony, four teams in the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department Canine Unit performed a skills demonstration for the crowd on hand. Lieutenant John Murphy with his dog Kam, Sergeant Brian Stack with Iko, Corporal Tim Frates with Kilo, and Officer Lewis with Luka, showed off their skills and talents by performing a drug search, capturing a simulated purse–snatcher, and attacking a simulated hostile offender. Afterwards, the Shaw’s store manager, Liam Flannagan, offered refreshments to the group at the celebration.

As part of the Milk–Bone Canine Heroes Program, the Milk–Bone nationwide police dog donation program helps law enforcement agencies add or maintain canine units at no cost to tax–paying citizens. Over 500 police and service dogs have been sponsored by Milk–Bone to communities across the country since 1998. Since partnering together in 2000, Milk–Bone and Shaw’s have donated a total of six K–9’s and service dogs to the Shaw’s communities. The Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department is honored to have been given the opportunity of adding Luka to their canine unit.

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