By Nina Mandell
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN — The MTA shells out up to $6,000 for each of its elite German Shepherds, which are trained to fight crimes and find explosives, the New York Times reported Monday.
While the price tag may seem steep for the dogs, officials told the Times they normally range from $6,800 to $7,000 a dog.
Those aren't the only expenses associated with the unit. In November, the K-9 unit doled out $1 million for 71 acres of land in Duchess County for the dogs to train. The high-priced pooches receive 16 hours of training a week, MTA Police Chief Michael Coan told amNew York.
The transportation authority police have 45 of the dogs, the NYPD has 86 and the Port Authority police have 46, officials told the Times.
The cost may be steep, but the K-9 dogs have been in the news often lately.
A team of the NYPD’s highly-trained dogs flew to Haiti to help with rescue efforts. More recently, one of the canines working with transit authority police alerted officials to a suspicious package at the MTA station on 125th Street in Harlem.