Marlboro K-9 Unit Needs Your Support

Those cute (and ferocious when necessary) police dogs that find missing people and catch the bad guys need your help so they can continue to do their job.

The and the are hosting an art auction to raise money to fund the unit and keep it sustainable.

On Sunday, Dec. 3, all are welcome to the for wine, cheese, dessert and coffee. The event features an art auction held by Marlin Art Inc. The auction will feature art in all price ranges, including sports memorabilia.

Admission is $10 per person. For tickets and information, call Nancy Geist at 732-617-0186.

The event begins at 7 p.m., and the auction begins at 8 p.m.

If you cannot make the event, any purchase made on at marlinart.com can be credited toward the K-9 Unit and Discovery Institute by entering the code 63940 at checkout.

The K-9 Unit

The Marlboro PD K-9 Unit began in 2002, with officers Joe Chaplinski and Joe Armineo. To begin the program, the officers raised almost $20,000 through donations and attended 16 weeks of patrol training and 12 weeks of narcotics training with their dogs.

“It was something the township could use,” Chaplinski said. “We felt it could be an asset to the town.”

Chaplinsky's dog Vaik, was on the force with him from 2002 until he retired in spring of 2010. Vaik was diagnosed with Degenerative Myelopathy, a nerve  disorder that has caused him to lose feeling in his back legs. Chaplinsky said it is a progressive disorder, and the loss of feeling will travel throughout his body eventually.

When it comes to his best friend and partner on the force, Chaplinski said keeping Vaik wasn't a question.

”They could fire me before they take him,” Chaplinski said. ”It’s sad, but I’m used to it now. That’s my boy, he’s my kid. The bond between a handler and a dog is forever.”

Chaplinski adopted Vaik and now takes care of him in his home, using what Chaplinski calls a "purse-like" holder to help Vaik get around, and has to manually relieve Vaik's bladder.

But at his prime, Vaik, along with the other dogs on Marlboro's K-9 Unit, was an asset to the township. The dogs are trained to find missing persons and narcotics. Chaplinski said the dogs look in places police may have never looked, or not been able to look such as buried under the upholstery of cars.

The program is expensive to fund, as dogs cost thousands, officers are paid during training, and handlers are paid for any overtime they are called in for, including to helping neighboring townships.

But Police Captain Steve Mennona, who was the unit's first supervisor, said, “If it saves one life, it is worth it."

Recently, the Marlboro K-9 Unit has worked on , and .

“It is an added partner, it adds another officer to the force,” Chaplinski said.

Marlboro Patch will be conducting interviews with all of Marlboro's K-9 officers, stay tuned for a full profile of the unit in the coming weeks.