August 2019 marked one year since the county of Tucker received its first ever Sheriff K-9 Officer, Deputy Gabor is a 27 month old German Shepherd, who amongst a handful of other canines was tested, handpicked and imported from the Czech Republic to Shallow Creek Kennels of Pennsylvania. Gabor was at Shallow Creek for approximately two days before being selected to be a part of the Tucker County Sheriff’s Office team.
Within his first year of service, Gabor, along with his handler Cpl. B.T. Zirk, endured four months of training and became certified as a team through the North American Police Work Dog Association (NAPWDA). K-9 Gabor and Cpl. Zirk received their training through Peacemaker K-9 of Preston County, owned and operated by Thomas and Susan Mitter. Their training included Tracking, Apprehension, Obedience, Narcotics Detection and much more. The remainder of the team’s first year consisted of many different agencies including but not limited to the United States Marshall Service (USMS), United States Forest Service (USFS) and the West Virginia State Police (WVSP). Gabor has assisted with the finding of narcotics and the apprehensions of wanted individuals. Many school appearances, safety checks and demonstrations have been conducted in all Tucker County schools and Preston County High School. K-9 Gabor’s most recent deployment was conducted on Monday, Sept. 23 when Cpl. B.T. Zirk of the Tucker County Sheriff’s Office was contacted by units from the US Marshal Service who requested the assistance of Tucker County’s K-9 Team. Zirk was advised of a male subject, Timothy Trott, who was reported to be in the Kasson area of Barbour County and is considered armed and dangerous. It was reported this individual had made threats toward law enforcement. Zirk and K-9 Gabor responded and met with units from the USMS, WVSP and Barbour County Sheriff’s Office. The operation was conducted and successful and the male subject was apprehended without incident.
K-9 Gabor is Tucker County Sheriff’s Office first ever working dog and is expected to have many years of service to the residence and community of Tucker County.
