Sometime in early 2025, a new, four-legged recruit will be joining the Antrim Police Department. 

“We are hoping that by January or February will be able to find a dog and get started,” said Antrim Police Chief John Blake. “We have the funding and we’re just getting up and running.”

In August, Blake approached the Antrim Select Board to propose applying for a Stanton K9 Foundation grant in order to bring a create a K-9 unit in the town’s police department. The board unanimously approved the proposal, and the department has received the funding. The Stanton grant will fund all startup, equipment  and training costs needed to launch a police K-9 unit in the Antrim Police Department.

Blake, who has worked with K-9 units in the past and as well as currently with Hillsborough Police Department, says police dogs are an invaluable addition to any department. 

“They are a huge resource time-saver, and they are a great addition. They really have superpowers,”  Blake said. “It’s really a twofold benefit. It makes us more attractive as an agency,  and it gives us a tool to help the whole region, intertwined with Peterborough and Hillsborough’s K-9 units, it’s an assets multiplier.”

Officer Ned Girard will be Antrim’s canine handler. According to Blake, K-9 units are valuable in multiple settings and situations.

“For our department here in Antrim, a lot of it is search and rescue, missing children, missing vulnerable adults. That is their primary use for us,” Blake said.

Blake said the police dog will also be deployed for drug detection and as a patrol dog, with training in apprehending and searching suspects. Girard and the dog will attend eight weeks of drug-detection training in the spring, and in the fall, will take 13 weeks of patrol training at the Hillsborough Police Department. 

“It’s just a great tool to have, and another way to help keep our community safe,” Blake said. 

The Stanton K9 Foundation provides funding to New England municipal police departments to fund the addition of K-9 units to police departments. The foundation, which was founded by Frank Stanton, the former president of CBS, also provides non-competitive grants for $15,000 to replace K-9 units who have been killed in duty, including providing canine bulletproof vests for replacement dogs.