I am currently a police officer for a small agencie with a very small equipment and training budget. Our city has a drug problem and I would like to have a drug dog for work. I have been told of places that donate trained drug dogs for agencies. I have yet to find any information on such. I uderstand one to be in Houston Tx. I am looking for any information on any place that I may contact about such a donation or even VERY low cost. I have a feeling I may have to pay for the dog myself and prove its usefulness and need in our city. kband635@yahoo.com THANKS

This is the department of defense site. The date on the dogs is '03 so I don't know how current the list is. You might give them a call and see if they're available and suitable for what you want.

http://dodmwd.lackland.af.mil/adoption_law_enforcement.htm

We have ads on the radio here in Colorado asking for dogs to be donated to the working dog program, so I don't think they will be giving them out any time soon.

Larry.... you might want to look at your local animal shelter, some realy nice detection dogs have come that route.

True!
Ya'll would be surprised at the number of trainers that walk up and down the rows at some Animal Shelters bouncing a tennis ball on the ground as they walk and closely watch the reactions of the various dogs.
I've gotten two detection dog candidates for training this way in the past.

Oh course that would just gives Larry a raw dog with no training, not what he's looking for.

Wasn't Ed's dog Gabbie a pound puppy?

My old black lab (Gabby) was a rescue dog. She is gone now (at age 16) In her day she was the best drug dog in the state of WI. A Great Dog.

I dont think you would have a lot of luck finding a patrol dog at the dog pound - but a narcotics dog or bomb dog is another matter.

Yes, to kinda adlib to Ed's post, one can get decent detection dogs from rescue. The majority of US Customs detection dogs are rescues. Though they do have their own breeding program now, the majority of their dogs as of now is still rescues(for detection).

Occasionally you can find young retrievers in the pound or rescue shelters. Some are just too high energy for their owners.
I always keep an eye on the want adds for labs, goldens, chessies, and even herding breeds like the Border Collie and the Aussie.
The key is to know and understand selection testing. So, if you have not done this before take someone who has done it a lot with you or do a quick pre-test on the dog and take it to someone with a lot of experience.
Always do the testing away from the dogs home grounds, always take the dog away from the owner to do the test.
Be picky and be ready to dump the dog if you run into problems. Dogs often come with baggage from the rearing process that will plaque you forever. Better to unload the dog and start over.
here is where you need a experienced person to guide you. Is the problem simply training? or is the problem ingrained into the dog due to rearing or genetics or both? If it is the later is the problem critical to the task?? Is it merely cosmetic or will it effect performance. Again only experienced eyes can readily determine such concerns.
IT IS DETRIMENTAL TO A LEO's CAREER TO BE STUCK WITH A SUB STANDARD ANIMAL!!! Yet, I see this all the time. detector dogs that can get certified but not ever bring the team to the top of their game. They fumble about as dog handlers for a fews years often gaining a poor reputation or at the least never gathering a good reputation. Sometimes this is as a result of not enough individual effort, that's their fault, other times due to a substandard dog and or substandard training. If you are considering getting a dog get good training, a good dog, good maintenence training, and be prepaired to work hard.
Why do I bring all this up? Free stuff sometimes ain't worth the cost.