Kudos to the Easthampton Police Department for its addition of Gino, a 17-month-old Belgian Malinois, and to Officer Andrew Beaulieu for rearranging his life to handle the department’s latest crime-stopper.

The new K-9 unit paid off quickly when Gino, on his first tracking assignment, helped apprehend three suspects after a gasoline station was robbed in the early morning hours of May 30. The Malinois breed has a keen sense of smell, and Gino will be used to detect narcotics and search and clear buildings, as well as to track missing people or suspects.

Police Chief Robert Alberti says K-9 units save time because a search that could involve a dozen officers can be narrowed and completed quickly by a single dog. Gino joins existing K-9s from the Massachusetts State Police and in Hadley and Amherst that are available to local communities.

Easthampton Police acquired Gino in March, using a $25,000 grant from the Stanton Foundation, which has an office in Cambridge. That money also covered overtime costs while Beaulieu trained, and will continue to pay K-9 program expenses for three years.

Beaulieu, 26, who grew up in Holyoke, has been a full-time officer in Easthampton since December 2014. He continues to work the 4 p.m.-to-midnight shift, but as Gino’s handler — a five-year commitment — he is now on call 24 hours a day. Gino, when off duty, is ready in a kennel Beaulieu constructed in his garage. He had to give up his own dog, a miniature dachshund named Cruiser, who now lives with his parents.

Beaulieu and Gino do a training exercise together for at least 10 minutes every day. To ensure that Gino has plenty of space to exercise, other officers helped Beaulieu remove trees and stumps from his backyard, and K&J Tree Service in Southampton donated equipment to chip the brush.

James G. Hayden, who owns the Easthampton Animal Hospital, will donate veterinary services and food for Gino. “The community support has been amazing,” says Alberti.

We expect that support for Gino and Beaulieu’s commitment to the K-9 unit will yield a substantial payoff for police in Easthampton and surrounding communities in the coming years.

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Animals also are in the news in Northampton, where Mayor David Narkewicz and Police Chief Jody Kasper announced last week that the city is seeking a site for a $395,000 municipal kennel. It will be used to shelter abused or lost animals, including dogs, cats and birds.

That kennel is overdue in Northampton, where officials have not had a place to house animals since the 2015 retirement of longtime private contractor Nancy Graham, who had a private shelter. 

Since then, dogs found in Northampton have been taken to a shelter in Amherst by animal control officer Shayla Howe, but that takes time away from her duties in Northampton. There is also an expense — a $1,400 base contract plus $15 a night for each dog’s stay in Amherst. Cats are now taken to veterinarians for overnight stays. That is supposed to cost $30 per night, but some veterinarians reduce the charge.

The money for a kennel is included in the nearly $3.4 million approved by the City Council for capital projects in the fiscal year beginning July 1. We hope that a suitable site is found soon and that the kennel is operating by the end of the year.

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We appreciate the offer made by retired teacher Terry Johnson to pay the $500 to $650 she figures it would cost to install and clean a port-a-potty at the North Amherst Library during July and August. The 800-square-foot municipal building does not have a public restroom.

Johnson, a resident of Teaberry Lane who opposes the proposed $35.6 million expansion and renovation of the downtown Jones Library, says she is particularly concerned about parents and children participating in the summer reading programs at the North Amherst branch. “This donation will allow families needing a restroom to avoid crossing a dangerous intersection in order to find a store willing to accommodate their needs in the Riverside Park shopping mall,” she says.

Point made. There have been discussions about adding a bathroom since at least 2001 when an addition for the North Amherst Library was designed but not pursued. There is no excuse for a library branch, no matter how small, not having a public bathroom.

The town should find the money to pay for a portable facility and act quickly to make a permanent bathroom part of an improved North Amherst branch — whether or not the much more expensive Jones project is approved.

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