DUDLEY, Mass. - The Dudley Police Department is introducing their new 5-month-old bloodhound K-9, Maverick.

What You Need To Know

  • Dudley Police Officer Luis Pacheco is introducing the new 5-month-old bloodhound K-9 Maverick

  • Officer Pacheco and Maverick are training with the Northeast Houndsmen group, which works with law enforcement and assists K-9 handlers in rescue and recovery

  • Bloodhounds have about 300 million scent receptors whereas humans have about five million

  • The cost of the K-9 program was mostly funded by Mr. Gerald and Mrs. Marilyn Fels

  • They donated $25,000 towards the program, according to Dudley PD. Now they're pursuing grants to fund operational equipment and supplies for Maverick

“This was kind of my career goal. I've always been into canines," Officer Luis Pacheco said. "I just find it extraordinary how what they can do and the assets that it brings to a town.”

Officer Luis Pacheco started with the department in 20-8 and his partner Maverick is a 5-month-old bloodhound who’s got some learning to do.

“I think it's just going to be as much of a learning curve it is for him as it is for me," Pacheco said. "This is all brand new to me and I'm excited to learn more and more from him and kind of a new aspect of the job that we can experience together.”

Pacheco said they’ll complete about six months of training and Maverick will be fully on the job in less than a year.

“Mav is going to be a tracking-trailing dog. So, he'll be able to locate missing individuals, people that have fled a crime scene," Pacheco said. "They're great for individuals with dementia, if they leave their house and, and get lost. And he'll also do some scent article work.”

Maverick will be able to track items people have tossed or hidden by linking their scent to the item.

Pacheco called bloodhounds a single purpose tracking-trailing dog. Their floppy ears and wrinkled skin contribute to their incredible sense of smell.

“People don't really understand or they're actually just not familiar with the breed, but it helps them basically bring scent to their face and it traps it into a scent cone," Pacheco said. "They have a different design nasal system that allows them to smell more sense. And they also have a specific part of their brain that's bigger than a normal breed or any other breed that helps them process scents that could be at least a couple days old.”

Pacheco is looking forward to introducing Maverick to the community, noting bloodhounds are approachable and great with kids. Dudley Police said Maverick will be the only bloodhound K-9 officer in Southern Worcester County, so the department’s newest nose will be both beneficial to the town and the surrounding area.

“If you can get new things for your department or you can set goals that you know, maybe others around you didn't think were achievable or anything like that or something you'd be able to obtain," Pacheco said. "So, me completing this goal makes me feel really good and get a satisfaction over accomplishing something that I wanted to do.”