Richland County Sheriff's Department received a $5,000 donation from Del Monte Pet Products and Milk- Bone® in partnership with Food Lion towards the purchase of a new Departmental K9. This donation is part of an on- going effort to support local law enforcement and security preparedness nationwide.

At a ceremony in the parking lot of the Food Lion on Thursday, August 27, 2009, in Blythewood, Sheriff Leon Lott received the $5,000 donation and members of the Department's K- 9 and Aviation Unit performed a skills demonstration for all attendees.

To further involve the community, Food Lion and the Richland County Sheriff's Department invited guests, including Mayor Bob Coble and students from Richland School District 2 to attend the ceremony and view the K- 9 skills demonstration.

"The generous donation from Milk- Bone and Food Lion made today will make a difference for our communities for a long time to come." said Sheriff Leon Lott.

The K- 9 Division was established in 1996 and is currently staffed with Belgian Malinois, German Shepherds, Dutch Shepherds , Labrador Retrievers, and Bloodhounds. These police dogs provide assistance that cannot be matched by man or machine. The K- 9 unit performs so many services for our deputies and citizens; tracking, narcotics detection, building searches, and bomb detection.

As part of the Milk- Bone® Canine Heroes(tm) Program, the Milk- Bone® nationwide police dog donation program helps law enforcement agencies add to or maintain canine units at no cost to tax- paying citizens. Over 900 police and service dogs have been sponsored by Milk-Bone® to communities across the country since 1997.