Nap Time! Otsego County Sheriff K-9 ‘Mika’ Retires After 10 Years Of Service

She served Otsego County well and now she's getting a much-deserved retirement - Otsego County Sheriff's Office K-9, Mika. According to the Otsego County Sheriff's Office, this amazing dog served well in her career which spanned from 2011 into 2022, assisting deputies during many search warrants, looking for missing persons, and searching for explosives/firearms. Mika has served during some high-profile cases like sniffing for explosives and firearms at National Baseball Hall of Fame Inductions with thousands of people present and even doing that same job when former President Barack Obama visited Cooperstown. Mika has also done her fair share of community outreach and shown off her skills in public demonstrations.

It's not easy to become a police K-9. Mika was donated by an Albany dog breeder to undergo the rigorous training process of a K-9 which includes basic obedience, agility, handler protection, detection, tracking, and building searches. She had to pass all sorts of training tests before becoming a certified K-9 used in police work.

Mika is named after U.S. Army Corporal Michael L. Mayne of Burlington Flats, NY. who sadly died on February 23, 2009, from wounds he received during an attack on his unit in Balad, Iraq. What a great way to honor his memory by naming this special dog after him!

Mika's handler over the years and the officer she went through her training with is Deputy Sheriff Sergeant Kristopher Solovitch, with whom Mika gets to spend her retirement, just relaxing and enjoying fun things with him and his family.