Rosko to Remain with Geneseo Police Department
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The village of Geneseo, in an attempt to balance its budget, felt it wasn't cost effective to continue the police K9 unit, which Rosko is the only member.
By ending the program, Rosko would have been separated from his partner officer Jason Yasso. The dog lives with Yasso and his family.
There was a Facebook page dedicated to saving Rosko. Thanks to Polly Hanna, the owner and operator of a pet cemetery in Rush, Rosko's job is safe. Hanna donated $4,500 to keep Rosko on the police payroll for another year.
"I know how important canine officers are to a village or a town or a city and they don't get anywhere near the publicity that they should get for all the good things that they do on a daily basis, so we wanted to help,” said Hanna.
Dick Hatheway has been Geneseo's mayor since 1986. He says the reaction to the possibility of eliminating the police K9 unit has been overwhelming.
Hatheway says he's received hundreds of calls and emails from as far away as Scotland after saying the dog would be put up for auction; a poor choice of words, according to the mayor.
He is now optimistic the donations will continue allowing the village to keep its police canine unit indefinitely.
"We've set up a whole separate account so any money that's donated this year is going to be able to be carried forward in what you might call a little saving account type thing which is a dedicated fund that will be used only for support of the K9 program,” said Hatheway, (R).
Hatheway says this is a win for all involved. Rosko gets to remain with Officer Yasso and his family, the police department continues to benefit from Rosko's services, and there is no added cost to Geneseo taxpayers.