Dea, a 20-month-old purebred German shorthaired pointer who was imported from Bulgaria, was given her officer badge by Chief Richard Oldham during a press conference Tuesday at the Hollidaysburg Borough building — marking a historic milestone for the department as its first K-9 officer.

“She will play a vital role in enhancing public safety, supporting investigations and strengthening our connection with the community,” Oldham said, adding the K-9 program reflects the department’s ongoing commitment to “proactive policing in partnership with the residents we serve.”

According to Oldham, the start-up costs of obtaining the K-9 was about $106,000. The funding was raised by 21 donors, including a roughly $30,000 grant from Operation Our Town, which has been putting dogs on the street and supporting law enforcement to combat drug-related activity for about 18 years of the nonprofit’s 20-year history, board President Michael Fiore said.

Fiore said he believes Dea is the ninth K-9 Operation Our Town has funded, either partially or fully, in Blair County.

Hollidaysburg Police Chief Richard Oldham speaks as K-9 Officer Dea and her handler, Hollidaysburg Officer Bryan Ketner, and Agent James Walstrom listen to the presentation. Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski

“We’ve had them scattered throughout Blair County,” Fiore said, noting a big part of Operation Our Town’s mission was to have the K-9s cross jurisdictional boundaries in support of other police departments and the Pennsylvania State Police.

“We’re very proud as an organization to be supporting these animals, and this will not be the last,” Fiore said. “We will continue to invest in our county for the good of trying to eradicate drugs off the street.”

Of the narcotics Dea is trained to detect, Agent James Walstrom of the state attorney general’s office said it’s “the usuals with the exception of marijuana.”

That list includes cocaine and all of its extracts, heroin, methamphetamine, MDMA — more commonly known as ecstasy — as well as fentanyl and xylozine, Walstrom said.

Walstrom said the reason K-9s are now trained to detect fentanyl and xylozine is because there is no straight heroin on the street anymore. Everything is either heroin and fentanyl, heroin and xylozine or fentanyl and xylozine, he said.

K-9 Officer Dea, a 20-month-old purebred German Shorthair Pointer is pictured with handler Hollidaysburg Officer Bryan Ketner. Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski

“It’s probably been many, many years since we’ve seen straight heroin without any other derivative on the streets of Blair County,” Walstrom said, noting Dea was one of the first K-9s imprinted, or exposed, to detect fentanyl and xylozine.

Other K-9s in Blair County have since been imprinted, he said, adding there are two K-9s in Altoona, one in Logan Township and one that will soon arrive at the Blair County Sheriff’s Office, replacing K-9 Rik, who died at the end of December 2025.

“We have a dog on the way for them, so that dog will be replaced,” Walstrom said.

Dea came microchipped and was in the country for a few weeks before Walstrom obtained her, he said.

Walstrom said Dea spent several weeks completing initial training with him until she was pretty much at the point where she could work with any detection dog handler. At that point, Ketner was brought into the picture, he said.

After about two weeks of overlap, Dea started going home with Ketner, who said their bond has grown immensely over the last month and a half.

“She’s going to be a good benefit for the borough,” Ketner said, adding Dea will visit area schools today to conduct searches and do community relations work with the students.

Walstrom said he tested many dogs when he chose Dea, noting there are many characteristics they look for when considering dogs — with overall drive being one of the main ones.

“Dea had all the drive” but wasn’t so far over the top, Walstrom said, adding Dea had the clearheadedness he was looking for.

On Tuesday, Dea sat on the floor calmly — smiling at those in attendance and occasionally gnawing a metal chain attached to her leash, which Ketner held throughout the press conference.

“This is what we want her to do here,” Walstrom said. “We don’t want her bouncing off the ceiling, but if Officer Ketner would give her a command, then, boom, we want her to bounce off the ceiling.”

While it might take a few hours for several officers to search for narcotics in a room, Dea and other K-9s are able to sniff them out within minutes, Walstrom said.

Not only do K-9s cut down on time and resources, they’re a valuable tool for vehicle searches, Walstrom said, adding officers probably search 100 vehicles to every one house search nowadays.

Whenever a stop is made, an officer might have reasonable suspicion that a narcotics crime has been committed. But the officer doesn’t have probable cause to get a search warrant for the vehicle until after a K-9 is called in and detects illegal drugs.

“Without the K-9, you don’t have the probable cause,” Walstrom said, echoing Oldham’s comments about the positive impact Dea will have on the borough and the surrounding areas.

“Dea’s going to be exceptional. There’s no doubt about it,” he said.

Oldham concluded the press conference by thanking the donors who helped the department reach its milestone of obtaining a K-9 officer.

The full list of donors included Operation Our Town, McLanahan Corp., Stuckey Ford, Curry Supply, NPC, the DeGol Organization, Sunoco, Keystone Custom Home, Gretka Real Estate Partnership, McCoy’s Lawn and Garden, Everett Railroad, New Enterprise Stone & Lime, Stiffler, McGraw and Associates, Myers Amusements, Keller Engineers, New Pig, Blaise Alexander, Just Play Slinky, Hoss’s, Tractor Supply Co. and the Hollidaysburg Animal Clinic.

Mirror Staff Writer Matt Churella is at 814-946-7520.