Lauren Estes-Velez

Hartselle Enquirer

The police department is looking to fundraise through selling food plates the first week of July to raise money for canine training and equipment.

Canine officer Vaughn Lambert has been with the Falkville PD for 7.5 years and is seeking the community’s help in raising money to help upcoming costs to equip and train his canine partner, Filas.

“Filas is a five-year-old European dog that I’ve had since January of 2013,” Lambert said. “The training for him is something that is ongoing and we have to keep it up. The training cost is high because of all the different things that go into it. The biggest thing the fundraiser will do is offset the canine program, saving the police department funds that could be used toward something else.”

Lambert said Wayne Jones would be the provider of food being prepared for the fundraiser.  

“We will be doing tenderloin, bread, sweet corn, green beans and sweet tea, etc. and it will be $10/plate,” Lambert said. “The first of July will be the pick-up time at the Falkville Police Department for the plates which you can just pick-up your plate and go.”

Lambert said there isn’t a specific fundraising goal set in order to get for the K-9 unit, but they want to raise as much as possible.

“The fundraising amount varies, it will boil down to exactly what all needs to be done, so I would say my goal is to fundraise as much as we can,” Lambert said. “Whether it covers man hours and specialized training, any of the equipment we may need, and things of that nature, it will pay off having it. This is the community’s dog and it helps stop and prevent crime. Also, if this training is received, if there is a child or adult in need of being found, this dog can do the job of several men at once with his natural instincts.”

Lambert said right now they just have the plate meal fundraiser in place but hope to have others in the future.