NATCHEZ — The Natchez Police Department is approximately $10,000 away from purchasing two new K-9s, law officials said.

Natchez Police Chief Walter Armstrong said an Arkansas couple pledged a donation that would completely fund the cost of one K-9 and training after they learned about the department’s need during the Super Retriever Series Crown Championship — a competitive event for various dog breeds that took place in on the Natchez bluff in September.

Just a month before the event, the NPD’s only K-9, a German shepherd named Arko, died from cancer and old age after having served 10 years on the force and the department was left without a K-9.

“We are looking for two dual-purpose K-9s that can be utilized for tracking and sniffing out drugs,” Armstrong said. “We are now at $7,000 in donations to purchase one of those animals and we are still waiting for funding from this other couple to purchase another.”

In May, the Natchez Board of Alderman allocated approximately $16,000 for a K-9 unit that Armstrong said could be put toward a used SUV to transport one of the dogs — which costs approximately $24,000 — and use donated money for the animals themselves.

Armstrong said he anticipates purchasing the animals at the USK9 Unlimited training center in south Louisiana, where two of his officers would receive a minimum of four weeks of training and bonding with their K-9s before coming home to Natchez.

The cost for handler training and the animal itself would be between $15,000 to $17,000 per dog, Armstrong said.

One dog would be assigned to Arko’s former trainer Brian Seyfarth and the other to Stanley Starks — a former Natchez K-9 officer who was recently rehired after working for several years in security in the middle east, Armstrong said.

“This is one of the few times we’ve been without a K-9,” Armstrong said. “Everything, as far as I know, is progressing and we could receive funds for one of these dogs within the next two weeks,” he said. “These officers will train on-site with the animals and would return to the department and bond with the K-9 more. It’s a process that would take some time even after funding is received.”