The Ogle County K-9 Fund Bark and Whine Ball will take place from 5 to 10 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 1, at River’s Edge Experience, 103 S. 1st St. in Oregon. The event will include live music by The Vodka Boys, food catered by Ralfie’s BBQ, a silent auction and a 50/50 raffle.

Only 250 tickets will be sold, and they can be bought at the Ogle County Sheriff’s Office, Merlin’s Greenhouse & Flowers and Cork & Tap. All proceeds will go to support the Ogle County Sheriff’s Office K-9 unit, which includes Deputy Kyle White and K-9 Gator and Deputy Ali VanVickle and K-9 Saint. Expenses for the K-9 program include food, veterinary bills, training, equipment and future K-9 acquisitions.

The K-9 unit is supported solely by donations and self-funding. It recently was established as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. After gun raffle fundraisers in recent years, White and VanVickle decided to try to fundraise differently for more community engagement. They’ve been organizing the event since April.

“We wanted to fundraise on a bigger scale,” VanVickle said. “We expect it to sell out. We’ve sold about half the tickets already. We’re out in the community a lot, and what we’ve learned most from that is that people don’t realize that the K-9 expenses aren’t paid for by the Ogle County Sheriff’s Office. It’s all donated and self-funded to keep these dogs healthy, fed, trained and in equipment. People want to help when they realize that, and we’ve seen people wanting to donate.”

The initial cost for a K-9 and its training is about $14,000 to $16,000. Most of the dogs come from Europe. Along with food and vet bills, expenses also include training, which is required for 16 hours a month. VanVickle and White estimate that they do another 20 hours of training on top of that, combined, per month. K-9s cost about $5,000 to $6,000 per year to maintain.

White has been Gator’s handler for almost two years, and VanVickle is approaching one year with Saint. White worked with a K-9 during his first military deployment and enjoyed it. Once he got to the Ogle County Sheriff’s Office, he trained with the K-9 handlers and later put in for the position and got it.

“And then I spent a lot of time watching Kyle work with Gator when I was considering applying for it,” VanVickle said. “My dad was a K-9 handler at the Rochelle Police Department before he was elected sheriff. I’d been around it for quite a while. That’s why I enjoy it.”

K-9s Saint and Gator are dual-purpose dogs. They can track and find narcotics, as well as track missing people such as a child, an elderly person or a crumbs suspect. They can search buildings, and they are apprehension dogs and are trained to bite when situations call for it. They also can find evidence, such as items that suspects have thrown in a chase situation.

“Lately, we’ve put a lot of time in with our dogs, and it’s seemed to work out pretty well,” White said. “We’ve used them to serve warrants with the [Drug Enforcement Administration], [Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives] and U.S. Marshals Service. We help surrounding counties with tasks like tracking people, search warrants and more. The time we put in with our dogs is probably twice as much as surrounding agencies. We enjoy it.”

White said K-9s can serve as a threat deterrent for suspects, which keeps deputies safer. He’s responded with Gator to serious calls where kids have been distraught and has gotten the dog out to help kids emotionally. White said he finds satisfaction in situations like that and when the K-9 can be used to successfully find a missing child or elderly person.

Community outreach is a use for the K-9s that White and VanVickle have found to be beneficial. They do K-9 demos at events and take them to visit schools. At those gatherings, kids get to know the dogs and their handlers and learn about law enforcement.

“Community outreach is the best part,” VanVickle said. “We have kids talking to us all the time. I can’t tell you how many kids have said they want to be a K-9 handler when they’re older. Starting with those kids at a young age, it really engrains a sense of safety and something that they may want to do later in life.

“I think the dogs make us more approachable to the community. Because who doesn’t love a dog? Our dogs are docile enough that they can be loved on. But when it’s time to work, it’s time to work. And they can differentiate that, which is very important.”