Posted by: Media Relations

The Tulare County Sheriff ‘s Department in conjunction with the Visalia Police Department hosted the 30th Annual Sierra K-9 Trials this past weekend May 8th & 9th  at the Visalia Plaza Park Raceway. This is a competition between trained law enforcement K-9 dogs used to apprehend criminals, detect narcotics and locate evidence. The competition consists of Narcotic Detection, Evidence Detection, Area Search, Obedience, Agility, and Protection. Several California law enforcement agencies come to compete in this competition every year. 

This year the Tulare County Sheriff’s Department had four K-9 Deputies compete. The Deputies along with their K-9 partners did exceptionally well. The Tulare County Sheriff’s K-9 Team took the Top Team award beating Visalia Police Department in team points winning back the Rival Team trophy which was won last year by the Visalia Police Department.

The Tulare County Sheriff’s Department K-9 team took home a total of 13 awards. Earning awards were Deputy Doug Burch and his K-9 partner Daisy. Deputy Burch took home the Top Dog award earning the most points of all competitors. He also took 1st place in the Agility portion of the trials, 2nd in area search, 5th in protection and 5th in building search. Deputy Joe England and his K-9 partner Rosco placed 1st in the overall Open Class Division, 2nd in Obedience, 2nd in Agility and 3rd in Protection. Deputy Garrett Grisbach and his K-9 partner Thunder placed 2nd overall in the Novice Division and 2nd in building searches. Deputy Corey Evans and his K-9 partner placed 4th overall in the Novice Division. 

The Tulare County Sheriff’s Department is very proud of these Deputies and their K-9’s. They train very hard to be the best and provide good quality service to the citizens of Tulare County.