In the next year, the Clinton Police Department will say goodbye to its longtime police Dog, Sonny. A new K-9 named Monty is expected to take over in the coming months.

In 2017, Clinton Police Chief Vincent DeMaio convinced the Board of Selectmen to reestablish Clinton’s K-9 program, which had been decommissioned in 2016. The department raised more than $15,000 through fundraisers and donations to train and purchase Sonny, a German shepherd.

Police dogs typically serve between five and 10 years, and at nine years old, DeMaio said it was time for Sonny to retire.

“He’s still functioning at his tasks, but the trainer we used had another dog that they thought was good for us and a very exciting dog. Sonny has gotten much older, and we want to transition to a younger dog,” DeMaio explained.

“Sonny’s mind is still sharp, but he’s slowed down some that I can see,” said Corporal Jason Frey, the department’s K-9 officer.

In April, the Town Council unanimously voted to accept a grant from the Hometown Foundation for a fully equipped Police K-9 as part of the foundation’s K-9 Awareness Program. The $10,100 grant fully funded the cost of the new dog.

That new dog is Monte, a German Shepard that was born in Europe. Frey will be the K-9 officer with Monte, just like he was with Sonny. Right now, Monte is not certified for police work, but he is regularly with Frey for training.

“It will save some time on how long it takes him to get certified,” Frey said.

Frey estimated that Monte would be ready for the work in about six months, while Sonny was certified to work another 365 days starting in mid-May 2023. Frey said there may be about a six-month overlap where Sonny and Monte will be working together at the same time.

“We want Monte to be used for the same things that Sonny was used for,” DeMaio said.

DeMaio explained that while Sonny was trained in detecting drug odors, he could not differentiate between the drugs. When Connecticut voted to legalize cannabis in 2021, that meant one of the scents Sonny was imprinted to find was no longer illegal.

“We can untrain him for that scent, but it’s a very harsh process, and we did not want to do that,” DeMaio said.

Monte is named after Bristol Police Department officer Dustin DeMonte who was tragically killed in an ambush in October 2022. DeMonte was also Frey’s classmate at the police academy back in 2021. Frey said that before the department named Monte, the DeMonte family and Bristol Police Department gave their blessing.

“I think it’s a great tribute to Dustin. It’s my hope to live to his legacy, and it’s a big commitment but one I’m up to,” Frey said.

As for Sonny, Frey said that when his time working is up, he will be sold back to Frey for $1.

“That’s standard practice with dogs,” Frey said. Reflecting on their success together, including the 2020 Connecticut Police Work Dog Association’s Narcotics Detention Award, Frey noted that the program was even made possible thanks to donations from the public.

“He’s brought in all this success and at no cost to the town. Everything that comes in is donations, and without all these people, it wouldn’t be possible,” Frey said.

In fact, Monte isn’t even the only new dog in the department. Over the last year, the department started using Jagger, the therapy dog.

“A year ago, it was just Sonny, and now there’s Monte and a therapy dog, too,” Frey said.