Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office introduces new K-9

The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office debuted their newest recruit on Friday, a two and a half year-old German Shepherd named Odin.

Odin is the latest K-9 to join the ranks of the sheriff’s office after completing his most recent round of training.

Odin was born in Germany and received his initial training in the country before being purchased by the sheriff’s office in 2016. Odin has attended patrol school, received bomb detection training and will soon attend hard-surface tracking school.

Odin will be the only bomb-sniffing dog on patrol in Santa Barbara County. Odin has the tall task of taking over for the recently-retired Gango, the previous bomb detection K-9.

Odin is currently assigned to patrol with Deputy Philip Farley. Farley is an 11-year veteran of the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office.

Working with a K-9 has been a long-time career goal of Farley’s.

“I observed Deputy Ken Rushing and his K-9 ‘Aco’ working together and I saw the reward he experienced when his dog was successful,” Farley said. “He was so proud and I wanted to be a part of that.”

Odin lives at the Farley residence with Philip and his family.

Odin has already made an impact as part of the sheriff’s office. He is already credited with one criminal apprehension and he has successfully located two wanted subjects. Odin has also been part of a protective sweep of a building during a bomb threat.

The Sheriff’s Office currently has four K-9s on staff. Three on patrol and one trained in narcotics.