MIDDLESEX TWP — Even before he was officially sworn in, Middlesex Township Police Department’s newest officer has been hard at work.

Mibo, a 3½-year-old German shepherd and Belgian Malinois mix, is the first K-9 officer at the township. He was approved by the township supervisors in October, and officially sworn in by District Judge Sue Haggerty on Wednesday.

But, technically, dogs don’t need to be sworn in. So Mibo already has been making normal patrol rounds and has been called to a half-dozen K-9 specific incidents, including searches following bomb threats at Knoch and Mars high schools.

Although Mibo can perform a full range of K-9 activities, his specialty is explosives and firearms detection.

Mibo also is trained for patrol, where he can assist in a foot pursuit, sweep a building for a suspect in a forced entry or security alarm call, search a building in a bomb threat, or simply use his presence to give his human counterparts the upper hand in an escalating situation.

While the dog could find drugs thrown by a fleeing suspect, Mibo’s handler Middlesex Township Officer Mark Heider said he is not trained as a drug-sniffing dog.

While Mibo’s been working, the community has been rallying to cover his expenses. To name a few: Twin Brooke Veterinarian Clinic donated veterinarian services, the Agway store in Saxonburg donated dog food, Ibis Tek donated some of the equipment needed to specially outfit a vehicle for K-9 use, and Sarver Automotive also donated some items needed for the vehicle.

The department is in the process of establishing a bank account so that the community can make direct donations to the dog’s care, Heider said. Information about the account will appear on the department’s Facebook account when it is available.

---- The cost to purchase Mibo was covered by Region 13, an all-hazard task force comprised of the 14 counties surrounding and including the City of Pittsburgh. Mibo, if needed, could be utilized in any of the participating regions.

“This (dog) is an asset to our department and neighboring departments,” said Sgt. Randy Ruediger, Middlesex Township police officer in charge.