Border Patrol K9 team volunteers at Calexico Animal Shelter

CALEXICO ? On a regular day, Border Patrol K9 handler Tony Camarena employs his assigned dog to secure the border through heat and cold.

On Saturday, Camarena decided to use his dog-handling expertise at the Calexico Animal Shelter for another altruistic mission: caring for rescued dogs.

?I love animals ? except snakes,? Camarena said jokingly just after cleaning a dog kennel.

This is the first time that Camarena and other Border Patrol K9 handlers volunteered at the shelter, he said, and there?s a benefit in having the handlers involved in the effort, he suggests.

?I?m not afraid to approach a dog,? said Camarena.

But dogs at the Calexico Animal Shelter aren?t difficult to approach.

In fact, they all seemed eager to interact with handlers like Sonny Villareal, who walked, played with and bathed dogs.

?The vast majority of the dogs are sociable,? Villareal said as he prepared to bath one of the many dogs that are kept in the shelter.?

The goal of volunteering at the shelter is to give back to the community as an outreach effort, he said, and pointed out that Diana Daniels ? another Border Patrol agent ? was the one who invited him to volunteer.

Villareal then invited the K9 handlers and that?s how this volunteering effort came to be, he said.

?Dog on the loose,? said someone shortly after and then a dog the size of a Chihuahua was seen running through the kennels.

The dog was named Flash by some of the agents who were able to catch it soon after.

It was a clearly a joyful moment for the volunteers present.

Border Patrol K9 Coordinator Jose Montes, who ultimately got a hold of Flash, bathed it with the help of Border Patrol Deputy Chief Roy Villareal.

?We are all animal lovers,? said Roy Villareal. Border Patrol interacts with dogs so often that it ?is part of who we are and what we do.?.?

And indeed they have plenty of dogs.

The local Border Patrol has about 47 dogs, said Montes, who since becoming a supervisor had to relinquish having an assigned dog.

And he misses having an assigned dog, he said, although he noted that he has his own retired dog at home.

This is because agents are allowed to keep a retired dog, which is usually retired after five to eight years of service, said Camarena, who added that it?s not uncommon for agents to keep their assigned dog.

?All these guys really get attached with the dogs,? he said.?

In the case of Montes, his dog is growing old and soon he?ll have to look for another one.

Now that he?s seen the dogs at the Calexico Animal Shelter, Montes said there?s no way he?ll get a dog from a shop but instead, he?s looking forward to get a rescued dog.

For more information about the Calexico Animal Shelter and about adopting a dog contact the Calexico Animal Control office at 760-768-1861.

Staff Writer Alejandro Davila can be reached at 760-337-3445 or adavila@ivpressonline.com

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Source: http://www.ivpressonline.com/news/ivp-border-patrol-k9-team-volunteers-at-calexico-animal-shelter-20120819,0,4489157.story?track=rss

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