The Story Behind the K9 Unit Coin Minted by Local Lock Company

An Ephrata lock and key shop mints a coin assisting Grant County Sheriff's Office's K9 unit.

Spokesperson for the Sheriff's Office Kyle Foreman says G&D Lock and Key made the $20 coins, which have the likeness of Maile on the front of the coin and the Columbia Basin K9 Association logo on the back.

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Grant County Sheriff's Office has two K9 units available for their use.

"One is K9, Uno, who is Belgian Malinois who is teamed up with Deputy Jimenez," Foreman said. "The other is Maile who is Belgian Malinois who is teamed with Deputy Bundy."

G&D Lock and Key donates all funds from the sale of these coins to help the sheriff's office maintain the health of the dogs.

"If a dog gets injured in the line of duty or develops some type of illness, we want to have a little extra on hand that we can use to pay for that care," Foreman said. "To the generosity of G&D Lock and Key in Ephrata, we'll probably be able to have a pretty good chest of money to be able to continue to care for the health of these K9s."

Foreman says having two K9 units at the sheriff's office are an extra layer of protection for the community.

"These are patrol K9s, so these are used for tracking and apprehending suspects, but they can also be used for tracking lost people," Foreman said. "We had an instance a few years ago where one of our K9s was used to track a man who left his house in the middle of the night. He was stricken with dementia, and we used the K9 to track him and luckily he was able to track him and we were able to save that man's life from being outside in the frigid cold."

Coins can be purchased directly from G&D Lock and Key or Columbia Basin Foundation in Ephrata for $20.