Douglas County Sheriff’s deputies no longer can sniff out drug dealers on their own, thanks to the bite of a mounting budget crunch.

The department’s lone drug-sniffing dog, Baloo, is set to retire Wednesday night, after several months on the inactive list. Douglas County commissioners are expected to approve Baloo’s adoption by his handler, Cpl. Gayland Guinn, during the meeting that begins at 6:35 p.m. at the county courthouse, 1100 Mass.

And the department isn’t planning on training another German shepherd to step into the world of fighting crime, at least not until the budget cloud looming over county and state government lifts.

“With the serious budget cuts, I’m concerned that it’s one of the services  very important services  of law enforcement agencies that will be hurt by the statewide budget crisis,” Sheriff Rick Trapp said. “We’re looking for money. We’re looking at grants. We’re exploring all our options.”

Trapp is bracing for only a 2 percent increase next year in his department’s $7.6 million budget. The anticipated jump won’t be enough to account for inflation, he said, much less increased demands in the county.

This year, the county set aside $1,000 for Baloo  enough to cover food and veterinary care. The total was less than the $1,200 budgeted for pest control at the recently opened county jail.

“Obviously, the county would be better off with a drug-sniffing dog,” said Craig Weinaug, the county administrator whose proposed county budget will include recommendations from Trapp. “There are some things that would make our department more efficient that we’ve been able to afford in the past but we may not be able to afford in the future.”

Baloo joined the Sheriff’s Office in September 1996, purchased for $3,500. Since then he’s responded to anywhere from 60 to 150 calls a year, with responsibilities for sniffing out marijuana, cocaine or methamphetamine in cars and tracking and detaining suspects on foot.

Putting another dog on the streets would cost about $4,500 and require at least six months of training, Guinn said. Failing that, Lawrence and Douglas County officers will continue to rely on canine assistance from the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department or Kansas Highway Patrol.

“We have the ability to get dogs in here,” he said. “It just takes more time to get them here.”

And time is valuable, Guinn said. Officers cannot detain a suspect without probable cause while waiting for a canine unit to arrive.

With Baloo, however, officers could call in the dog to walk around a car pulled over for a routine traffic stop.

“Just running the dog around to sniff the outside air, that’s what we’ve lost,” Guinn said. “And a lot of (drug) seizures are coming off vehicle stops.”

Baloo still has the ability to sniff out drugs, but it’s his joints  pushed weekly during aggressive apprehension training  that simply cannot remain strong enough for active duty.

So instead, Baloo will spend his golden years barking from the back of Guinn’s pickup and living in the spare bedroom of Guinn’s home.

Trapp wouldn’t have it any other way.

“Certainly, he’s performed his duty and deserves to retire, just like any of us,” Trapp said.