Minnesota police dept. considers 'unqualified' K9 candidate
"Meet Nitro," a West St. Paul Police tweet said Monday. "He weighs 4lbs., doesn't meet any of the requirements and is not qualified in any way. Thoughts?"
WEST ST. PAUL, Minn. (KMSP) - It's not about the size of the dog in a fight, it's about the size of the fight in the dog--at least that's the conventional wisdom.
The West St. Paul Police Department tested that theory in real time Monday, tweeting a picture of its latest applicant for an open police K9 job.
Nitro isn't exactly the conventional candidate, weighing just four pounds and possessing none of the required skills necessary to complete the ins and outs of police work--obedience, a well-honed nose suited to sniffing out explosive or intoxicating substance or even the strength necessary to take down a fleeing suspect.
But Twitter users all seemed to think there was a place at the department for Nitro. The City of West St. Paul tweeted a reply saying it would process the paperwork to create a junior K9 officer program just for the pint-sized pup, while another Twitter user suggested an undercover position.
"Nobody can resist such a cutie!" they said.
The position was vacated earlier this month after Doc, a 3-year-old German Shepard, suffered a beating at the hands of a suspect and was forced into retirement.
Before he could go home with his partner, however, the department had to pay off the more than $8,000 warranty Doc was under from a canine importer in Florida.
A GoFundMe quickly raised the money necessarily, and Doc is living happily ever after with his former handler Officer Joseph Gobely.