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A police dog was sold for $1 to the Clarence Police Department by the Columbia Police Department.

Fano was boarded with the city's canine handler after his handler, Rob Sanders, lost his position with the department. Fano was not sold to Sanders because of liability concerns about the dog's previous training.

Although the original plan was to train another officer as a canine handler so that Fano could stay with the Columbia Police Department, staffing shortages have kept it from happening. There are still no immediate plans to train another officer to be a canine handler.

Fano's boarding costs were another contributing factor to the sale.

Clarence Police Chief Raymond Barton will assume all care and liability of Fano.

The Columbia Police Officers’ Association (Fraternal Order of Police Lodge #26) released the following response about the sale of Fano:

“CPOA has learned of the sale Police K9 Fano to an outside police agency for the total sum of $1.00. This action by the City of Columbia demonstrates the continued fiscal irresponsibility and misinformed decision making surrounding Fano.

“The taxpayers of Columbia bore a financial burden with the purchase, training, maintenance, and subsequent kenneling and non-use of a valuable public safety resource, a burden for which no benefit has been seen. The City of Columbia was presented with documentation and evidence of the unlikelihood of the ability of Fano to be re-trained and paired with a new handler.

“The City of Columbia was also presented with an offer of $10,000 and full liability release a year and a half ago, which could have led to the purchase of a new dog to be committed toward improving public safety in Columbia today.

“Instead, the city made the decision to kennel Fano in Cape Girardeau, Missouri at a cost of roughly $8,000.00 over the last 17 months, serving no benefit to the citizens of Columbia or the Police Department.

“Our leaders are tasked with being good financial stewards and informed decision-makers on behalf of the citizens of Columbia. We expect city leaders to hold themselves to the highest level of accountability for their decision-making. The CPOA believes these obligations have not been met from the beginning of this sad affair.”