From pound puppy to K9 officer! Jannay Towne explains how a five-year-old boy helped an abandoned pooch get a job on the police force.
--REPORTER PKG-AS FOLLOWS--
(Tristan, Raised Money for Bosco) "Hi Bosco."
FIVE-YEAR-OLD TRISTAN SOMMERFELD HELPED WELCOME THE NEWEST MEMBER OF THE ANKENY POLICE FORCE, BOSCO THE TRACKING DOG.
(Tristan, Raised Money for Bosco) "He can find lost kids."
BUT OFF-DUTY THE ONE-YEAR-OLD LAB MIX IS ALL PUPPY.
(Officer Bret Lappin, Ankeny Police Dept.)
"If you don't pay attention he'll grab something that he should not be playing with, like a shoe, quite enough frequently."
TRISTAN WANTS TO BE A POLICE OFFICER WHEN HE GROWS UP AND HAS ALREADY FOUND A WAY TO GIVE BACK TO HIS COMMUNITY.
(Tristan, Raised Money for Bosco) "My birthday, a lot of people gave me some money."
(Amber Sommerfeld, Tristan's Mother) "For his birthday, Tristan's birthday in October, rather than asking for gifts from friends and family, we asked for donations for the K-9 fund."
THE FIVE YEAR OLD DONATED 1,500 TO THE CANINE FUND, OTHERS FOLLOWED SUITE.
TO DATE, THE CITY HAS RAISED ABOUT 30,000-DOLLARS TO BRING BOSCO FROM A RESCUE SHELTER IN INDIANA TO ANKENY.
(Chief Gary Mikulec, Ankeny Police Dept.) "He can find missing persons, he's also trained to find drugs."
(Officer Bret Lappin, Ankeny Police Dept.) "We've had some cases in the past where people have gone missing and having a dog that can track is going to be very helpful."
HANDLER, BRET LAPPIN, A FOUR-YEAR-VETERAN OF THE DEPARTMENT IS READY TO PUT BOSCO'S NOSE TO WORK.
(nats) "When I was your age I wanted to be a police officer too."
THANKS TO SUPPORT FROM THE COMMUNITY.
(Amber Sommerfeld, Tristan's Mother) "It's paying it forward and gifting to the community and the superheroes we call the police and the fire department and the people that serve.
A WAY OF SHOWING THEIR APPRECIATION TO THE GOOD GUYS.
(nats) "You donated all of your birthday money for Bosco? That's pretty special."
THANKS TO THEM, ONE DAY THIS RESCUE DOG MAY COME TO THE RESCUE OF OTHERS IN ANKENY.