In His Own Words

April 20, 2021 by Rose Nemunaitis

The following is an excerpt from an interview with Sheriff Dan McClelland about his longtime trusted K9 companion, Midge.

One of my favorite stories about Midge is not about one of her drug finds or arrest assists. It is about a letter I got from a mom. Mom introduced herself and her son in the letter. She went on to state that her son has some learning disabilities and although he is in a public school, each day he is taken from the classroom for specialized instruction. Sadly, he hates this because the other kids would tease him and at times even make him cry. Mom went on to state that one day, this all changed. Midge and I came to his special class.

Midge and I enjoyed going to schools and talking to children. If the children were old enough, we would talk about the dangers of drugs. If the children were younger, we talked about “dangers from strangers” or other appropriate topics. The children loved seeing Midge.

As I read (this) mom’s letter, I remembered going to her son’s class. The children were wonderful and excited to see Midge. As we walked down the hallways of the school to the classroom, many students saw Midge and I and exclaimed, “Oh Midge is here!”

I remembered her son’s special class.  Some of the children had significant deficits and even required adult aids to help them in their wheel chairs. Midge was wonderful, very tolerate of the attention she received. Every student got to hold her and pet her twice. Even the ones who struggled to use their hands got to pet her.  I remember we talked about community helpers.

Mom (said) that when her son got back to his regular class, the teacher asked him if anyone came to see him at his special class. He exclaimed Midge was there. The whole class got very excited. The teacher had her son come up to the front of the class and tell everyone what it was like to hold Midge and pet her. He got to answer questions like, “What was it like to hold her?” Suddenly, going to his “special classes” took on a whole different meaning to the other children.

Mom went on to tell me that the children stopped teasing her son about the special class after our visit.  She thanked us for taking the time to go to her son’s school.

In all my years with the sheriff’s office, I never took a letter from a citizen home. I took this one home. I remember telling my wife as she read it that our little K9 was not only able to find drugs, she helped a child stop being teased and bullied.

I gave Midge a hug that night.