The Pine County Sheriff's Office is slated to add a new K9 to the department later this summer.
Made possible through an AKC grant and donation from McDonough K9, Deputy Joshua Pepin has been selected as the department's third K9 handler.
The K9 is supposed to arrive mid-July, with training for Deputy Pepin and the K9 starting in August. If all goes well, Pepin and the K9 will be "road ready" by this November.
In a release, Sheriff Jeff Nelson said, "I appreciate the community support that allowed us to restart the K9 program six years ago and to now add a third K9 to our team."
Pictures and the animal's name will be released at a later date.
