After four years on the force, a valued member of the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office is calling it a career.

The officer's replacement isn't far behind, thanks to a local fund and the Boothbay Harbor Rotary Club.

Unlike most other new hires, this one won't come from an academy or come with a resume; the new hire will come from a breeder and walk through the doors on all four legs.

With Chance the drug sniffing dog retiring, the Heidi Fund will once again be called in to assist the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office.

Katharine Martin-Savage helped form the Heidi Fund, which has been used to buy new police dogs for the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office.

The Heidi Fund traces back to 1994 when Clayton Jordan's service dog, Heidi, died after contracting a disease from a tick.

“I had just retired, and after I found out about Heidi I said 'I have to get them another dog,'” Martin-Savage said. “I talked to Bill Carter and the Sheriff at the time, Bill Cade, and started a memorial service for Heidi.”

Soon after, a $2,000 check was handed over to the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office to kick start the fund.

“Now, when the fund gets low they just have to call,” Martin-Savage said.

With Chance retiring the need arose again for the Heidi Fund. The Booothbay Harbor Rotary Club was able to assist with a $1,000 donation.

“We had a donation from the Rotary to help purchase patrol dogs for the Lincoln County Sheriffs,” Martin-Savage said. “We've helped purchase all the dogs so far, unless someone is hired who already has a dog.”

Chance has spent four years (28 dog years) as a drug dog alongside Sergeant Alan Shea and the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office. She will soon call it a career and return to a more laid-back life.

Since the Heidi Fund's formation, it has seen Molly, Oskar, Olga, Chance and Koda go through the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office. The dogs stay on for only a few years before they are retired.

In addition to helping officers on patrol, the dogs act as ambassadors in the schools, where they frequently interact with students.

The Rotary's Hometown Heroes fund, which is used to help purchase items for local first responders, was again used to deposit $1,000 into the Heidi Fund to ease the expenses of a new dog.

The Rotary's Daren and Debbie Graves said they saw a mention of the Heidi Fund and stepped in to help.

“I read about the Heidi Fund in the paper and I said 'A-ha,'” Debbie Graves said. “We use the Hometown Heroes fund to to help the departments purchase something that wasn't in their budget.”

The dogs are an invaluable asset to the Sheriff's Office, Sgt. Shea said.

“Sometimes, they'll work three or four times a week,” he said. “Other times, they will go a month. It can vary greatly.

“In the summer, it's pretty constant.”

The new dog will be paired up with Kevin Dennison. Shea said the search has already started for a new dog.

Chance may be leaving law enforcement, but she isn't going anywhere, Shea said; she will now become a stay-at-home pet.

Now the focus will turn to adding more protection for the dogs, Debbie Graves said.

“We are looking to buy some bulletproof vests for the dogs again,” she said. “We raised money for the vests in 2002.”

The vests carry a cost of approximately $1,000 and are fitted to the individual dog.

Ben Bulkeley can be reached at 207-633-4620 or bbulkeley@boothbayregister.com. Follow him on Twitter: @BBRegisterBen.