K9 Unit

The BCSO Canine Unit was first established in 1983. We maintain a Canine Unit of 4-7 canine teams throughout the organization to assist with all divisions and other agencies throughout the county.  All of our canines have attended an extensive training course in their discipline and their average life span is between 10 to 12 years. All of our canines live and go home with their handlers. The main purpose of our canines, is to be used as a locating tool to assist their human partners, their noses are 400 times more sensitive than a human's. Our Canine Unit survives largely on community support with donations to help buy canines, train canines, purchase equipment and keep the Canine Unit in operation for the BCSO.  

The Butte County Sheriff’s Office K-9 unit is comprised of four Deputy Sheriff K-9 teams. Three K9 teams assigned to patrol operations are dual purpose K-9’s in narcotic detection and apprehension. One canine team is single purpose in tracking / trailing. Due to their extraordinary sense of smell, our canines can search extremely large areas in a fraction of the time it would take multiple Deputy Sheriff’s to complete. The Butte County Sheriff’s canine unit serve our community 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

The K-9 unit provides education to local schools, local businesses and participate in numerous community events such as, Wheeling with the Cops, National Night Out and Day with a Deputy

The Sheriff’s Office K-9 unit is made up of the following teams:

  • Sergeant Manuel Ayala 
  • Deputy Justin Chamness and K-9 Enzo
  • Deputy Andrew Miller and K-9 Chico
  • Deputy Christopher Sturgeon and K-9 Jocko
  • Deputy Dane Dugan and K-9 Vader
  • Deputy Benjamin Kordik (Decoy)

K9 at Sunset