Echo, the Drug Dog, Visited March 24 Rotary Meeting

With the increasing publicity about the drug death epidemic in PA, the Club was visited on March 24 by Susquehanna District Attorney Robert Klein, who discussed the issues and praised Matt Pompey and the Tunkhannock Rotary Club for getting other Rotary Clubs and County DA’s, including himself, onboard for the next Drug Take Back.

 

DA Klein then introduced Detective Justin Sprout, who is the trainer and handler for K-9 Police dog, Echo, a beautiful German shepherd. Detective Sprout shared with the assembly that Echo understands 3 languages: English for everyday general commands, French for “happy” language and German, which is his working language for search and tracking. He then demonstrated how dogs, such as Echo, are used to apprehend suspects, search out drug stashes and provide scent tracking to find missing or escaped individuals. Detective Sprout and Echo frequently visit schools to search cars, lockers and student backpacks for drugs.

 

L to R: Matt Pompey, Detective Justin Sprout, Pres Ron Furman, Echo and DA Robert Klein

Although Echo seems to be fixated on Matt Pompey (seated), it is actually Detective Sprout’s black jacket on the chair next to Matt, and which contains crystal meth, that is attracting his attention.