LOUDON CO., Tenn. (WVLT) - Loudon Co. Sheriff’s Office is starting their first ever bloodhound tracking team.

Roscoe is a 7-month-old Bloodhound who came to the LCSO with help from Sergeant Allen Russell of the Blount County Sheriff’s Office and Captain David Finchum of the Sevierville Police Department.

“Several months ago, Sheriff Guider and I began having a discussion with a few people about the possibility of adding a new type of team to our K-9 unit.”, said Chief Deputy Jimmy Davis. “We were confident that by adding a tracking dog to our agency, it would benefit us in many ways that our traditional patrol K-9 units might not always be able to.”, said Davis. “In a community where we have children who live with development disorders, and seniors who face horrible diseases like Dementia and Alzheimer’s, any resource we can add to help locate these individuals when they walk away from their homes is worth its weight in gold.”

Deputy Brandon Dishner wanted to learn the man tracking trade so he spent time with other bloodhound teams.

Roscoe and Dishner completed a month-long handler course with Roscoe obtaining his NNDA Certification in October.

The pair are fully operational on the LCSO’s Nightshift Squad.

Roscoe is the sixth member of LCSO’s K-9 team with the other five trained in narcotics detection, tracking, and criminal apprehension.

“LCSO would like to also give a special thanks to the Sevierville Alderman who donated Roscoe and to Knoxville based Heelex Medical Center for their financial donation for Roscoe’s K-9 vehicle transport kennel,” said LCSO Spokesperson Matt Fagiana.

“These donations made this program possible.”