By Greg Ritchie
Messenger Reporter
CROCKETT – Crockett Police Department’s (CPD) four-legged crime-fighter, K-9 Kiler, got a little extra tail wag this week, thanks to a $500 donation from the local Tractor Supply Company® store.
Store Manager Robert Lumley, a Crockett native and 1989 CHS graduate, said the contribution was part of Tractor Supply®’s ongoing effort to give back to the communities it serves.
“Tractor Supply® is all about helping the community whenever we can,” Lumley said. “We had an opportunity to hand out a $500 donation, and the police are very important to the community—and to my business. We work together well. The K-9 unit comes in here three or four times a week. Everyone knows Kiler. I thought it would be the perfect place to spend that donation money.”
Lumley, who’s managed the Crockett location for more than a decade, said the store’s pet-wash stations have seen “everything from goats to cats” and plenty of enthusiastic dogs—including one very energetic K9 crime fighter who never passes up a chance to shake water on his handler.
“It’s $10 a pet wash,” Lumley said with a laugh. “We provide the shampoo, towels, dryer, sinks, and water—you come in, wash your dog, and we clean up after you. You leave with a clean pup. It’s all part of serving the community.”
CPD Sgt. Nathan Key said the department’s K-9 program has thrived thanks to donations like Tractor Supply®’s—and the community support that’s kept it going since it began.
“When I first started here, we didn’t have a K-9 program,” Key said. “When the chief asked who wanted to put one together, I couldn’t run fast enough to volunteer.”
Key helped launch the program by gathering donations from local businesses to purchase and train Kiler, certified in narcotics detection and tracking.
“We’ve really hounded the methamphetamine around this area pretty hard,” he said. “That seems to be the main thing. We’ve also found cocaine, and Kiler’s trained to detect heroin and ecstasy as well.”
The bond between handler and dog, Key said, has become second nature.
“It’s almost like having another left foot,” he said. “He’s by my side 24/7. At home he’s like a family pet, but when it’s time to work, it’s all business.”
At the Key household, Kiler shares the yard with a small dachshund.
“They’re best friends,” he said, chuckling. “But if there’s anything in his way, it’s getting knocked off the table. He’s like a huge toddler when he’s home.”
Key said community support—from small donations to gestures like Tractor Supply®’s—has kept the K-9 unit running strong.
“This community has really come together from the very beginning,” he said. “Any time I’m out and folks want to see Kiler, I pull over, we visit, they pet him, and then we’re off again. It’s all about connection.”
For Lumley, the donation is just one more way to strengthen that connection.
“The police are here for all of us,” he said. “If our little bit helps them keep doing what they do, that’s money well spent.”
Greg Ritchie can be reached at [email protected]
