Jenna Phillips and her K9 partner Juno — seen here in the middle with Catherine Schneider (left) and Gloria Bobertz — earned their AKC Canine Good Citizenship certification on Nov. 18. | Photo courtesy of the Crescent City Police Department. Thumbnail photo courtesy of GoFundMe.

Jenna Phillips can already see herself as a new officer working at the Crescent City Police Department with her canine partner Juno.

At 16 years old, Jenna is a sergeant in the CCPD Explorers Program and is a member of its volunteer K9 crew. Juno, a cattle dog Labrador mix, has appeared at “multiple fundraisers for different things” and has taught youngsters about canine safety.

Juno just passed her AKC Canine Good Citizenship qualification test with flying colors.

“One day, she will be able to be deployed and help find missing persons,” Jenna wrote.

Now, after being hit by a car on Thursday evening, Juno needs the community’s help. Jenna created a GoFundMe page for Juno, says her dog sustained a broken leg and a fractured pelvis and needs surgery.

She said she will be traveling to Springfield, Oregon on Monday for a consultation with the veterinarian.

“We’re trying to raise up money for the surgery because it’s going to be expensive,” Jenna told Redwood Voice Community News on Sunday. “She has a fentanyl patch for the pain, she’s got her appetite back and she’s on antibiotics.”

Despite the need for surgery, Juno’s prognosis is good. She’s young at only a year and a half, according to Gloria Bobertz, who helped found the volunteer K9 crew. Training will continue “when she’s able to continue it,” Bobertz said.

She added that even if a dog that works in emergency situations such as search and rescue misses a month of training, those skills are imprinted on them and come back when that training is resumed.

“You’re required to work your dogs 16 hours a month minimum,” she said, adding that she and fellow volunteer Catherine Schneider work their dogs a lot more than 16 hours a month. “But if we gave our dogs a month break or more, they’ll pick it back up. You might have to refine it and work on it, but they pick it up and it’s something that’s fun.”


According to Bobertz, Juno was struck at about 5:45 p.m. Thursday on Washington Boulevard. The car that hit her didn’t stop, Bobertz said. Phillip’s father found the dog curled up on the side of the road and brought her into the Town and Country Animal Clinic.

They then began reaching out to emergency veterinarians who specialize in treating the injuries Juno sustained and found one in Springfield, Oregon. According to Bobertz, because Jenna is a police explorer, “they’re going to give her a break on the cost.”

The rehabilitation will take about eight to 12 months, Bobertz said.

“As far as they’re saying, she’ll be able to run, jump, walk, do all that stuff,” Bobertz said. “Dogs can be put back to work depending on what discipline they’re trained in.”

Juno was one of 10 dogs on the Crescent City Police force until Dec. 3 when Lt. Kai retired. According to CCPD Chief Richard Griffin, seven of those dogs are part of the volunteer program that operates on donations.

CCPD’s “working dogs” like Lt. Kai, Sgt. Kostya and Sgt. Murtaugh are trained in apprehension and narcotics detection. They nab people running or hiding from the police and can signal to their partner if drugs are nearby.

Jenna, Bobertz and Schneider are training their dogs for other tasks. For example, Bobertz’s dog Cash has been trained to find human remains and also works as a therapy dog.

Juno is being trained for article detection, Jenna said.

“If a person touched something, say they touched a water bottle and threw it out in the field, she would find that because it has the person’s last scent on it,” Jenna said

Dogs trained in article detection are also able to locate guns, which can be a plus, according to Bobertz, because there aren’t any gun detection dogs in Crescent City currently.

Jenna has been a CCPD Explorer since she was 14 and met Juno through her commanding officer, Sgt. Alex Pearson.

About eight months ago, Pearson asked Jenna if she’d like to train a dog. When she said yes, he and Griffin brought Juno to her. Though the dog was only eight months old and a rescue — according to Bobertz, she was found in the swampy area around Crescent City and adopted out through the local nonprofit Camp Berry — Juno was smart.

Every day Jenna would take Juno to a contained area on the beach and teach her basic obedience skills — sit, lay down, come and stay. Her goal was to train Juno to find people who were lost or missing, but switched to article search because “that’s more police-based and less search and rescue.”

“Eventually if we’re planning on introducing finding guns and stuff,” she said.

Lt. Kai was already working when Griffin came on as Crescent City Police chief in 2019. Thanks to Crescent City’s Measure S, sergeants Kostya and Murtaugh came on board. According to Griffin, having three working dogs on the force at the same time is unheard of in a department the size of CCPD.

On Monday, Griffin told Redwood Voice that he and other senior officers in the department came up with the idea of giving one of their Explorers the opportunity to work with a dog. Jenna, who is dedicated, driven and motivated, was the right Explorer, Griffin said.

“I truly believe she’s going to be in law enforcement,” Griffin said. “I want to be the one to put the badge on her.”

Bobertz called Jenna tough and said that she was dedicated to honing her skills as a K9 handler even if she lost Juno. According to Bobertz, Juno’s accident “has been a real test of her armor.”

So far, Jenna’s GoFundMe page has generated $3,414 and has a goal of $20,000. Moneys that aren’t spent on veterinary bills, travel and therapies and rehabilitation for Juno will go toward the CCPD Explorers Program.

“She was shocked at how many people have helped her,” Bobertz said. “But it’s something that could happen to anybody [and] she will be an asset to the community later, the dog and Jenna, because she plans on joining the Crescent City Police Department when she’s old enough.”

Jenna says after she graduates from high school she plans on taking classes at Cal Poly Humboldt before enrolling in the police academy. She’s hoping she can join CCPD with Juno when she graduates.

“I love this town,” Jenna said. “I love this community and I would do anything for this community and for Juno.”