Belmont County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Jennifer Yuhase says she believes that Jersey, the Belmont County Courthouse therapy dog, provides a welcoming presence at the courthouse.

ST. CLAIRSVILLE — The Belmont County Sheriff’s Office’s Criminal Interdiction Unit provided a K-9 demonstration at the Belmont County Safety Council monthly meeting.

Lt. Randy Stewart began the meeting by saying he believes it’s important for the public to see what his unit does and how it utilizes the dogs in its care.

“Many people don’t realize what law enforcement faces every day. So I think it’s important to get out and do these kinds of things,” Stewart said.

The unit did a narcotics search demonstration as well as an apprehension of suspect demonstration. The narcotics search saw the dogs sniff through multiple boxes with only one having narcotics in it and the dog having to find the box with the narcotics.

For the apprehension of suspect demonstration, Detective Brad Mackey donned a padded suit and got taken down by the K-9.

Detective Tyler Grant said his job is to deal with anything drug related within Belmont County. He added that he believes his unit does a good job of keeping drugs out of the county.

In addition to the K-9 demonstrations, the Safety Council was graced with the presence of Jersey, the Belmont County Courthouse therapy dog, and her handler, Deputy Jennifer Yuhase.

Stewart said Jersey is adored by everybody in the community due to the extensive training she has completed to ensure that she is always a calming force to be around.

Yuhase said that Jersey received her training in 2020, and the goal of having her in the courthouse is for her to be a friendly face for people going to court.

“When children or even adults have a crisis or an emotional sequence, whether it be abuse, neglect, or murder, she sits and she gets people healed up. That’s her job, she’s a neutralizer,” Yuhase said. “You come in angry, because you don’t want to pay your taxes. You walk in, and she kindly brings a little bit of light into the equation.”

She added that Jersey was originally just her pet, but Yuhase realized that Jersey’s temperament was perfect for therapy and asked then-sheriff David Lucas if bringing Jersey on board would be something he’d be interested in. He agreed she would be a good addition for the courthouse.

Grant then said that both Jersey and his unit’s dogs are not paid for by any sort of public funding; instead they are funded by a combination of donations and out-of-pocket funds from the detectives who own the dogs.

He added that vet bills are free due to an agreement the sheriff’s office has with K.E.Y. Animal Hospital in Wheeling, and he is incredibly thankful for that arrangement.

Grant said that recently his unit was able to confiscate about 8 pounds of methamphetamine and a kilogram of cocaine out of the mail recently.

“It’s coming into the community. We can pick it off before it even gets here, and that’s awesome. It also saves money because we’re not buying drugs,” Grant said.

He added that the dogs are imprinted on narcotics and aren’t thinking that they’re going after drugs. They are trained to think that the smell of those drugs are the dog’s toys.

Grant said with the recent legalization of marijuana, newer dogs won’t be trained to look for it, but the older dogs were imprinted on marijuana and it isn’t something that they can be trained to not look for.

He said that obviously recreational marijuana is now legal, but if a dog finds several pounds of it in a vehicle, officers will arrest the individual. It is legal for adults over 21 years old to possess 2.5 ounces of marijuana in Ohio.