Contest To Name New Brevard Sheriff K-9

BREVARD COUNTY, Florida -- The Brevard County Sheriff's Office announced a new K-9 recruit to replace K-9 Montana, who retired earlier this month from duty after nine years of dedicated service with the Sheriff's Office Corrections Unit.

Montana answered calls for missing children, missing persons, suspects that fled from a crime scene, and also assisted with other investigations.  Notably, Montana assisted with the recapture of an escaped inmate in 2007 and located a missing and endangered child in 2012, that gained him and his handler a nomination for the Tracking and Trailing Team of the Year award as part of Florida Missing Children's Day. 

In all, K-9 Montana answered hundreds of calls for service and became the longest, continuous service bloodhound for the Sheriff's Office to date.  Montana will still be close to the Sheriff's Office, as he is being adopted by Corrections Deputy Emily Rhodes as part of her family.

The new blood hound is an 8-week-old male that was acquired through a breeder as a donation from the Jimmy Ryce Foundation.  The Jimmy Ryce Foundation was formed in honor of Jimmy, who was abducted and killed on September 11, 1995, to provide awareness in the protection of children.

The Sheriff's Office is asking for the public's support in submitting possible names for the puppy.

The names will be accepted via the Brevard County Sheriff's Office Official Facebook page.  The winning name will be selected on Friday, June 21, 2013.  The winner will be invited to a swearing-in ceremony where the puppy will be officially named.

The Sheriff's Office said in a statement that "the puppy's name is very important as it will serve him through his entire career."   The new puppy will be trained and handled by Field Training Officer Jared Conaway.