WPD K9 Bubka To Retire

Warsaw Police Department K9 Bubka is retiring.
Scott Whitaker, WPD chief, told the Board of Public Works and Safety on Thursday that he expects in the next couple weeks he’ll bring a contractual agreement to the board for Bubka with handler Cpl. Brandon Zartman.
“He’s been assigned to the Warsaw Schools the last six years but looking to retire,” Whitaker said of Bubka.
Clerk-Treasurer Lynne Christiansen asked if Bubka could come to that Board of Works meeting.
“Absolutely,” Whitaker said. “We’re trying to time because of vacations and such so that Cpl. Zartman can bring his family and Bubka for that Board of Works.”
He said it’ll probably be in August.
Mayor Jeff Grose said Bubka is such an important part of the police department. With Bubka’s retirement, Grose asked if a new dog would be sought out.
“So we have two other K9s currently assigned to the patrol division. As you know, we went to four shifts this past year. The idea is to eventually have a dog per shift, so that we’re not having to call out for a K9 and have one readily available. The timing is a big issue when it comes to response, when it comes to K9s for searches and such, but, so ideally, we have two officers that have identified themselves as having interest in being K9 handlers, so we would like to add at least two more to our (department) as we anticipate retirements in the not-so-distant future with our two other K9s. We want to be prepared for that as well,” Whitaker stated.
As far as the school, whether the WPD has a K9 assigned to there or not will probably be left up to the school, he said. “We certainly have two officers that are previous K9 handlers in the school system as SROs (school resource officers), so there’s certainly potential.”
Grose asked what the process was like for the WPD to get another K9.
Whitaker said the police department has been very fortunate in years past that they’ve had donors provide funding to purchase the K9s and for the training. The cost is roughly $13,000 per dog plus an additional $6,000 to $7,000 for the training.
“We’ve had an individual donor that’s helped with two previous (K9s),” he said. “I certainly did not put it in the budget for 2026.”
Grose asked if Whitaker would support donations like he has in the past to support the purchase and training of additional K9s.
“Absolutely. We certainly aren’t soliciting the donor funds, but we do not have it in the budget for 2026, so outside of donors or grants, it’s not going to happen until at least 2027,” Whitaker confirmed.
Each dog is unique and has dual purposes. Whitaker said Bubka was not a biting dog, but he did drug searches and searches of lockers and vehicles.
“He was used a lot over the last six years. A great service to us and the school system. I look forward to celebrating him in the future,” Whitaker said.
“So donations are possible, but you wouldn’t want my little Yorkie,” Board member George Clemens joked.
Whitaker clarified they’d like donations of funds not dogs.
“These K9s typically would go through whatever organization or company, but they’re already trained and the officers will show up for the training and they will literally try to match them with a K9 so that they’re a match. So they really don’t have a dog until they get to the training,” he explained.
Councilwoman Diane Quance, who has a service dog, said they went through 18 puppies until they found one that could be trained as a service dog for her. The breed of dog used as service dogs or K9s are bred for that purpose, but not every dog has the necessary characteristics, she said.
“The dogs themselves are quite expensive because of that, and then they have the initial training, like you said. They have the training with the officer on top of that. They need their protective equipment and all those things as well that goes along with that. And their veterinary care, which is (expensive),” she stated.
City attorney Scott Reust said, “Well, with four shifts, two dogs can’t cover four shifts. It seems like a true need. Used a lot.”