Tuesday, the New Ulm City Council granted a request from Police Chief David Borchert to authorize the retirement of canine Dino and transfer ownership of him to handler Erik Byro.

Dino has been serving with the New Ulm Police Department since July 2020. During his time, Officer Erik Byro served as Dino’s handler. Byro recently resigned from New Ulm PD to join the Brown County Sheriff’s Office (BSCO) as a Deputy.

Borchert said in researching different option and considering the dog’s age, it is estimated Dino has 18 months to two years left in his working career.

“Transferring the handling responsibilities at this point isn’t very realistic,” Borchert said.

New Ulm Police dog Dino will be taking an earlier retirement. Dino has worked with NUPD since July 2020. His handler Officer Erik Byro resigned from NUPD to join the Brown County Sheriff’s Department.

BSCO was approached to purchased Dino, but declined.

Instead of keeping Dino on without a handler, Borchert recommended granting early retirement of Dino and allow Officer Byro to take him on as a pet. Allowing the handler to adopt retired canine units has been the policy for the NUPD.

Councilor Eric Warmka asked if there was a plan to replace Dino with a new canine unit.

Borchert said he will be replaced at a later date, but at this time he does not have the staff available to do it. In addition, this was an unexpected transfer and NUPD has not budgeted for a new dog this year.

NUPD still has one other canine unit, Hank, under the supervision of Officer Andrew Kuester. Borchert estimated Hank could serve with the department another six years. He said a workable career lasts between six and eight years.