The loss of the Washington County Sheriff’s Office’s K9 Vasco this December led to a charitable decision during the Washington County Riverboat Foundation’s annual meeting Thursday night.

Surprise Grant Committee Member Mike Vincent presented the board with the recommendation to give a $10,000 surprise grant to the sheriff’s office to help cover the purchase and training of a new K9, as Vasco had died of cancer after serving the county since 2015. The board voted unanimously for the grant with board president and sheriff’s Chief Deputy Shawn Ellingson abstaining. Vincent shares why the recently formed committee recommended the gift, “I think because of the surprise need for it because they weren’t expecting the loss of the K9 and it’s such a need in the community. I know, my wife and I, we give donations to the K9 training school in the Des Moines area from time to time. So I personally was just kind of all in for it and everybody on the committee really was. It was just a unanimous decision, we were all really for it.”

Sheriff Jared Schneider and Deputy Nolan Burke, who was Vasco’s handler, were presented the check in the Riverside Casino and Golf Resort Event Center, and Schneider shared his gratitude with the board, “I appreciate what you guys have done because this is not something we planned on, and it’s also something we didn’t have the money to get it accomplished as fast as we needed to, so thank you.”

Schneider mentioned the new dog they will be purchasing is named Dzamal, and training will begin with Deputy Burke this February. This is the second gift awarded by the surprise grant committee, the first which went to the Blair House in Washington for asbestos removal.