Deputy Cody Vigue, K‑9 Rascal Move from Shawano to Menominee County

Deputy Cody Vigue took his K-9 partner Rascal to the Menominee County Sheriff’s Department and began a new assignment on March 1, 2026, officials reported. The transfer reduces Shawano County’s active K-9 roster and, under terms described by Shawano Sheriff George Lenzner, could include the dog being sold to Menominee County for $5,000 with proceeds returned to SOS K-9 to fund the next canine.

Rascal has been with the Shawano County Sheriff’s Office since December 2021 and, according to Sheriff Lenzner, is “about two‑thirds through his career.” Lenzner said the department weighed retraining a handler on Rascal against the dog’s remaining service life: “If he takes that job, we’ve looked at the dog as about two‑thirds through his career, so I don’t think it would be worthwhile to train a new officer to take over this dog.” Lenzner also laid out the financials: “I spoke with SOS K‑9, which purchased these dogs, and if he decides to go there, we would sell the dog to Menominee County. The dog’s worth $15,000 (new); we … said we’d sell the dog to them for $5,000. Of course, that money would go back to SOS K‑9 to purchase the next dog.”

Operationally, Rascal and fellow K-9 Ruckus perform narcotics detection, tracking of fleeing or lost individuals, detection of discarded evidence, and handler protection during patrols and investigations. Shawano County’s CivicWeb records list K-9 Unit activity totals as 61 deployments, 56 narcotic sniffs, 23 narcotic-sniff arrests, five tracking and apprehensions, and one track-and-apprehension arrest, underscoring the unit’s workload.

Ruckus, a Malinois handled by Deputy Jacob Ostrowski, entered service in October 2024 after K-9 Arres retired in 2024; CivicWeb describes Ruckus as having “a high drive and is quite vocal.” With Vigue and Rascal relocated, Ruckus would remain the department’s only working dog covering the night shift, a change Sheriff Lenzner characterized as challenging for coverage and training decisions.

Earlier in February, the sheriff told the public safety committee that Vigue was undergoing a background check for a position with Menominee County; local reporting at that time described the transfer as not yet finalized and noted the handler is originally from Menominee County. Most official documents use the spelling “Cody Vigue,” though one report spelled the name “Cody Vogue,” a discrepancy flagged for confirmation.

SOS K-9, which has purchased several dogs for Shawano County and raises funds through community donations and events such as golf outings, would receive sale proceeds to support acquisition and training of the next K-9. The change reshapes Shawano’s K-9 coverage and redirects community-funded resources as the department plans next steps.