Jeannette County, PA K-9 'Depressed' About Losing Job On Force

By Paul Paterra for Pittsburg Tribune Review

Wando, the police dog, is out of work, and he’s depressed about it.

When officials in Jeannette County announced the layoffs of nine city employees Tuesday, one police officer was not counted — the department’s canine officer.

Since Wando’s sole handler, Justin Scalzo, 32, is one of three officers who will lose his job, the German shepherd is out of work.

“These dogs, what they live for is to go to work,” Scalzo said. “When I put my uniform on, he starts spinning and he jumps for the door, because he knows it’s time to go to work. … It’s almost like he’s sad that he’s not working. He looks depressed, he really does.”

Scalzo joined the police department in March 2005 and was teamed with Wando a few months later.

Faced with an estimated $440,000 budget shortfall, the city cut the nine positions, effective Tuesday. The union contract says layoffs must be based on seniority, and Scalzo was the most recent hire.

He is the lone member of the department trained to work with the dog, so Wando can’t be assigned to another partner.

“That officer would have to (be trained). It would be X amount of money, and the dog is already 6 1/2 years old and probably wouldn’t take to another officer,” Scalzo said.

William Sombo, a North Huntingdon Township police officer, trained Wando. He said the loss of a dog impacts a police department.

“It’s not just a drug dog, it’s a full-purpose dog,” Sombo said. “That’s like losing 10 men. When a dog is on the scene, it compares to having 10 officers. When you’re talking about the narcotics end, with the situation Jeannette has, it’s a serious impact against the department.”

In addition to three police officers, others scheduled to be laid off are the two part-time parking meter enforcement officers and three members of the public works department. A secretarial position has been reinstated.

The situation is under review, and council meets at 6 p.m. Monday to discuss it.

“We’re discussing some issues with all the personnel,” Mayor Robert Carter said Friday. “Things may change if we can iron out some issues at that time. If nothing changes, Tuesday will still be the due date.”

Carter said he has received feedback on the layoffs from many residents.

“The public fears we’re not going to get the streets taken care of, or we’re not going to have proper police protection,” Carter said. “We’ve formulated some plans. We’re going to make every effort to make sure everybody is safe and the roads are clean when it snows. … The biggest goal is to make sure we get the best bang for taxpayer dollars and make sure everybody is safe.”

City Clerk Michael Minyon said Delta Development Group, the consulting firm hired for the state’s Early Intervention Program, will be in the city Monday.

“I told them we need them here,” Minyon said.

Meanwhile, Scalzo, Wando and the others are waiting.

“As far as Wando is concerned, he is now laid off with me, so he’s at the house with me and I’ll care for him,” Scalzo said. “We’ve lost three aggressive officers and a K-9 that helped us out. I’m stressed out, sick about the whole thing. I’ve been doing police work for eight years, going on nine years. I didn’t expect anything like this to happen.”

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