Based on a surge of activity over the past week, it appears that a police dog — possibly two — will join the Butler Police Department in coming months.

That’s great news, considering the city’s crime problem, especially its nagging drug problem.

Few city residents and businesses will argue against such a crime deterrent. Most will greet the program as overdue.

The city’s financial situation has up to now prevented obtaining a canine. However, thanks to the initiative of Island neighborhood businessman Denny Offstein, the prospect of obtaining a canine officer has become much more promising than ever.

Offstein, who is spearheading a fundraising campaign on behalf of obtaining police dogs, also has made a one-year, interest-free, $10,000 loan to the city to jump-start the program.

Some other city businesses, as well as the Lions Club of Butler, already are on record as pledging financial support or support services for what is envisioned.

A sample reaction to the effort came from Glenn Miller, co-owner of Thompson-Miller Funeral Home, who said at a police dog demonstration Tuesday evening at Butler’s public safety building, “Our funeral home will participate in raising funds . . . we also intend to give a donation to make this happen in Butler.”

The city council voted Wednesday evening to open a bank account that will receive donations for the K-9 program.

Also at Wednesday’s meeting, Lorraine DiDomenico, a member of the Butler County Board of Realtors and chairman of its community affairs committee, told the council that the group has adopted the police dog program as the cause for its annual fundraiser.

It’s necessary for the effort to move forward quickly because the last 2012 training class for K-9s and their handlers begins on Aug. 27. Judging from the pace of the past week’s developments, it seems certain that at least one Butler police dog will be ready for training this year.

Obtaining two K-9s for the department will cost about $36,000, according to Sgt. Don Myers, K-9 officer of the Evans City Police Department, who, along with his police dog, Chaos, provided Tuesday’s police dog demonstration to members of the city council and police and fire departments.

Hopefully, some members of the criminal element here will see the arrival of police dogs as a reason to take their illegal activity elsewhere.

Up front, it’s important to stress that the police dog or dogs should not be a passenger in a police cruiser. The dog or dogs should be a routine presence on foot patrols not only in the downtown on Main and adjoining streets; there should be a police canine presence in the various city neighborhoods.

It would make a drug dealer carrying illegal substances nervous — even terrified — to come face to face with a K-9 officer and his dog, which is trained to sniff out illegal substances.

The prospect of being faced with this new crime fighter hopefully will cause some involved in the drug scene to rethink doing business here.

Mayor Maggie Stock, who by virtue of her elected position heads the police department, has dedicated her adult career to the arts and culture. Now she must work to ensure that the police dog program achieves the maximum positive impact.

Meanwhile, Offstein is poised to do that from the fundraising perspective.

At Wednesday’s meeting, Stock said, “I don’t think we’ve ever mentioned a project that has had such immediate, positive and overwhelming community support.”

That suggests that many residents and business people are tired of the city’s drug and crime problems that have damaged the community’s reputation and made them feel unsafe.

It’s long overdue for the criminal element to regard Butler as not a good place to do business, and the police dog program has the teeth to deliver that message.