Geneseo, N.Y. - In what many consider a dog eat dog world, even the dogs have it rough.Rosko is a five-year-old Belgian Malinois Shepherd.
He’s been employed by the Geneseo Police Department for four years, enjoying his benefits to the fullest.
“He lives with us, goes on trips with us, he's a part of our family,” said Rosko’s handler, Officer Jason Yasso.
Come this June, Rosko is out of a job.
At a cost of about $4,500 per year, Geneseo Mayor Richard Hatheway says that's an expense the village can't afford.
“We had to make some cuts and the dog situation was one area where we felt perhaps it was a perk or luxury,” said Hatheway.
Hatheway says Rosko has been involved in helping solve 20 cases in Geneseo, 28 outside the village, and recently solved a rash of break-ins at The Highlands housing complex.
Rosko's handler Jason Yasso says Rosko is an essential part of the department.
“Without them there are parts of the job we can't do,” Yasso said.
Despite Rosko’s experience, it will be hard for Rosko to find the same line of work.
“It would be very difficult for another department to take a dog that's five years old, to retrain him and train a new handler,” Yasso says.
Rosko could be sent to the back of the unemployment line while waiting for his next big offer.
“He is village property so that we would have an obligation to treat it as an asset and sell it/him,” said Mayor Hatheway.
Rosko’s last day on the job is expected to be June 1.
Yasso says he would like to keep him, but that may not happen.
Because Rosko belongs to the village, he could get auctioned off to the highest bidder.
Rosko’s fate has not been determined yet.
Mayor Hatheway says the Livingston County Sheriff's Department has a K-9 unit they can call upon if need be.
Rosko is the third K-9 in the history of the Geneseo Police Department.
The first two were retired to their handlers.
Rosko would be the first K-9 to get laid off.
