An employee of the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office celebrated his last shift Feb. 6, trading his drug-detecting talents for downtime with family.
Ozzie, an 8-year-old Dutch shepherd, spent eight years on the Gainesville-Alachua County Drug Task Force.
Ozzie’s owner, Sgt. Jeffrey Stadnicki, was recently promoted to night-shift sergeant, taking him out of the K-9 unit. Instead of retraining with a different handler, Ozzie will live out his days as a regular dog.
Ozzie came to the sheriff’s office in 2018 after gaining certification from the National Narcotic Detector Dog Association.
Born in the Czech Republic, he was transferred to the U.S. and joined a K-9 vendor in Georgia before the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office selected him to join its narcotics unit.
Ozzie assisted in drug investigations, during which he sniffed out cars, packages, airports and jails, Stadnicki said.
Stadnicki became Ozzie’s handler in April 2023, when he joined the drug task force. Ozzie’s previous owner had just left the unit, leaving him without a partner. Becoming a K-9 handler was a surprise, but Stadnicki couldn’t say no, he said.
The two spent the next three years as partners.
“It’s a dream job,” Sgt. Taylor Redding said. “Having your buddy to help you keep the community safe is pretty amazing.”
Redding oversees the ACSO K-9 unit, and he previously worked with Stadnicki and Ozzie on the drug task force.
The ACSO unit consists of 15 dogs with specializations in detection, search and rescue, and patrol. Drug detection dog certification requires a minimum of 280 hours of training, Redding said.
Stadnicki describes Ozzie as a goofy, energetic and “mouthy” dog.
“Dispatchers got to know him, because I wouldn’t have to say anything,” Stadnicki said. “I could just key up the radio, and they would hear the dog barking, and they knew it was probably going to be me talking.”
At work, though, Ozzie is what Stadnicki calls a “turn-key” dog — task-oriented, focused and highly obedient.
A few months after they became partners, Stadnicki was working a traffic stop when Ozzie alerted to the car by sitting next to it. While searching the vehicle, Stadnicki said he discovered boxes full of $317,000 in cash.
The sheriff’s office traced the money back to drug dealers throughout the U.S., Stadnicki said. The money may have been exchanged for fentanyl, and Ozzie smelled its lingering odor on the boxes.
Now in retirement, Ozzie spends his days playing fetch with Stadnicki’s 2-year-old son. Ozzie and Stadnicki’s goldendoodle, Turner, run around each other in their backyard.
Still, Ozzie gets excited every time Stadnicki heads out for work, he said, thinking he’s going, too.
“I’ll give him a bone and let him chew on it as I sneak out the door,” Stadnicki said.
Lt. Bryan Jones and his K-9, a Belgian malinois named Jerry, worked alongside Stadnicki and Ozzie on the narcotics unit. When Jerry retired in June 2025, it took a few months for him to adjust to a laid-back lifestyle, Jones said.
“I would put on my uniform and go out to my vehicle, and he would run circles around the vehicle wanting to get in to go to work with me,” Jones said.
Now, both Ozzie and Jerry are stay-at-home dogs, and they dedicate their time and training to playing ball with their families.
When ACSO K-9s retire, they get an honorary last call on the radio saluting their service and any special cases they assisted with. They’re also recognized with a picture on the office’s retirement wall and a plaque for their handler.
Retired K-9s in Florida also receive up to $5,000 a year in health care benefits.
The K-9 unit is looking for another dog to replace Ozzie, Redding said. The unit will reach out to various vendors, meet candidates and eventually make a selection.
“He’ll be sorely missed,” Redding said. “Hopefully the next dog that we get will carry on his legacy.”
Contact Vanessa Norris at vnorris@alligator.org. Follow her on X @vanessajnorris.
