The Guardian has exclusively obtained the documents regarding the sale of a dog that has captivated a small town which shows that the dog will be home within 48 hours from tonight.
Harry, the City of Circleville’s K-9 will go to work for the county Sheriff assuming a vote Tuesday night goes according to plan.
The sale comes after a community — and a nation — rallied around the dog’s handler, former Circleville Police Officer Rob Morningstar. Morningstar, now a deputy, resigned from the police department in January with an agreement that he could buy Harry. However, two months later, the city took possession of Harry back. A social media posting went viral and an online petition garnered nearly 100,000 signatures.
After much back-and-forth, including one vote that ended in a “no” by city council to sell Harry just a week ago, the Sheriff intervened and offered to purchase Harry from the city and re-pair him with Morningstar.
In the documents the Guardian received, “the sale of this drug canine shall be for an amount not less than $12,000 and otherwise in accordance with the terms and conditions of the agreement….”
The payment by the Sheriff must be made within 21-days, according to the agreement.
The agreement said that if passed Tuesday night, Harry will be picked up within 24 hours by the Sheriff’s office from the kennel in Sharpsville, Pennsylvania.
Further, the agreement relieves Morningstar of a potential liability of approximately $7,800 for leaving the city before a 5-year canine handler contract was set to expire. In that agreement, Morningstar agreed to pay the city a $14,000 on a prorated basis if his employment ended with the city before 2022.
The actual sale will be finalized immediately Tuesday night upon the passage of the ordinance, the documents reads.
The agreement has already been signed by the city’s Safety Director, Tony Chamberlin and Pickway County Sheriff Robert Radcliff. It now awaits council’s vote on Tuesday night.
