January 15, 2025
Lake County Sheriff’s Bloodhound Team Trains For Search Missions In Lady Lake
By Kyle Coppola
Lake County Sheriff’s Bloodhound Team Trains For Search Missions In Lady Lake
LADY LAKE, Fla. — The Lake County Sheriff’s Office Bloodhound Team conducted an advanced training exercise on Tuesday, January 14, in the wooded area behind Oakwood Smokehouse and Sherwin Williams in Lady Lake.
The exercise involved laying a scent track that was left to age for over an hour before the bloodhounds took turns pursuing it. The canines followed a specific person’s odor through a variety of terrains, including wooded areas, open fields, and along roadways, culminating in locating the individual inside a building.
This rigorous training has been part of the team’s weekly regimen, which utilizes local businesses and developments across the county to simulate real-life scenarios. The primary focus is preparing the bloodhounds to locate lost individuals, such as missing children or Alzheimer’s and dementia patients.
The Sheriff’s Office expressed gratitude to Sherwin Williams for allowing the use of its facilities for the training session.
“These exercises are crucial for ensuring our team is ready to respond to emergencies and provide life-saving assistance to our community,” a department spokesperson said.
Kyle Coppola was born in Newton, Massachusetts and received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Communications from Curry College in 2016. After traveling to Florida on a family vacation, he decided he could not get enough of the warm weather and made the move from snowy Massachusetts to central Florida 8 years ago.
For the last decade Kyle has gained valuable experience in social media content creation, marketing and sales, writing, video production, sports announcing and even broadcasting for local radio stations, such as FM 102.9 in The Villages and FM 91.5 in Massachusetts. Every year he volunteers at The Villages Charter High School as a play-by-play sports announcer for the football games as well as a public address announcer for the basketball games, including the annual Battle at The Villages Tournament.
Outside the office Kyle is a husband and father to two beautiful girls along with their cat. In his spare time he likes to spend time with his family, travel, play golf and swim. He is also a huge sports junkie and even bigger motorsports fan and loves to attend racing events when he can.
