The Vernon Hills Police Department has retired its comfort canine, just over a year after it joined the force, after the village deemed the dog as “unsuitable.”
The Vernon Hills Village Board passed an ordinance last week authorizing the transfer of ownership for Billie, a labrador mix.
The board said that Billie had been deemed “no longer suitable for service” in consultation with outside experts.
The village determined that Billie is no longer able to be useful to the police department in her wellness capacity and should be retired from active duty.
The ordinance conveys ownership of the police department wellness support dog to her handler, Commander Robert Caselli, at no cost.
The police department announced the addition of Billie, who was rescued and trained by SIT Service Dogs of Ava, Illinois, during an assembly with Hawthorn District 73 students.
The addition of the comfort dog was due, in part, to a persuasive writing exercise assigned to District 73 sixth graders and judged by Vernon Hills Police Chief Patrick Kreis.
“We’ve done this persuasive writing exercise for several years, always themed around the addition of a patrol K9. Unfortunately, that hasn’t been a program we could justify to this point,” Kreis said at the time.
“A dog to provide comfort and support to the community and Department staff, on the other hand, was entirely different. The essays these students wrote made many compelling points, and the decision to pursue a dog was an easy one after reading them,” Kreis said.
Officials previously said that Billie, who was two years old when she joined the force in May 2023, received approximately 12 months of training in obedience and emotional support techniques.
The goal of the canine was to provide comfort to victims of crime and people affected by traumatic incidents, as well as support department staff impacted by the stress of police work.