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Pet Food Company To Finance Wilton Police Dog

WILTON, Conn. – A financial gift from a Wilton pet food maker will allow the town’s police department to get its first police dog.

The Wilton Board of Selectmen accepted a $50,000 gift from Blue Buffalo Co. that will be used to purchase, train and continue a K-9 program.

Bill Bishop, founder and CEO of Blue Buffalo, said the company decided to make the gift after he spoke recently with Wilton Police Chief Michael Lombardo. Bishop also talked with his friend, former police commissioner Mark Ketley.

It makes sense for Wilton to have a K-9 program, said Bishop, a town resident for more than 40 years. Surrounding communities, including Norwalk, Ridgefield and New Canaan, have police dogs to assist with searching out illegal drugs, finding missing persons and doing crowd control, he said. “They really should have something,” Bishop said. “When Wilton (needed) one, they had to wait for other towns.”

The gift will allow the town to run the program for three years, Bishop said. The company will also provide food for the dog.  

Blue Buffalo’s gift is “very generous and a wonderful gift to the town,” First Selectman Bill Brennan said. The town needs its own K-9 unit, Brennan said, citing the case of a man who was found in the woods off Wolfpit Road after firing two shots and then calling for help.

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