From Friendly Canine to Local Drug Enforcer

Dog trained to locate drugs visits substance abuse class COLUMBIA, Ky. (10/16/2026) — Two classes of Lindsey Wilson University students learned about drug enforcement on Thursday, Oct. 15, from one of the Columbia Police Department's most tireless and successful crusaders against illegal narcotics.

Students in counseling professor Mahalia Cain's "Substance Abuse" and "Abnormal Psychology" classes watched Cally, an 8-year-old blonde Labrador Retriever of the Columbia Police Department's K9 unit, demonstrate how she ferrets out drugs in various settings and situations.

No matter the location or where contraband was hidden during a demonstration in a parking lot behind the university's Biggers Sports Center, Cally correctly informed her handler, Sgt. Trevor Foster, where narcotics had been placed. He rewarded her each time by allowing her to play with a nearly indestructible ball for a few minutes before Cally seemed to blithely move on to the next challenge.

Cally has been trained to locate cocaine, marajuana and methamphetamine. Foster said that lately methamphetamine has been the most common drug Cally has helped uncover. But he noted that the deadly fentanyl "is making a comeback" in the region. He aims to keep Cally away from fentanyl because even a trace of the synthetic opioid drug can be lethal to humans and dogs.

"Cally is a single-purpose dog, trained for article search," said Foster.

Cally also assists law enforcement agencies in nearby Russell and Taylor counties, as well as the Kentucky State Police. She's also aided law enforcement agencies in Tennessee.

Among Cally's bigger busts include uncovering 600 marjuana plants in a UPS building in Tennessee, and scoring 1.61 pounds of methamphetamine that Foster said "looked like a snowman" and would have been worth hundreds of thousands of dollars on the street.

A mild-mannered canine

Despite her serious work, Cally has all the makings of a mild-mannered domesticated dog.

"She sheds, she'll lick you," said Foster. "The only way Cally will get aggressive is to lick you too much."

Raised in Texas, Cally joined the Columbia Police Department in 2020 when she was 2 years old and Foster was in his second year on the force. Foster said Cally, who lives with his family, has about another year of service before she will retire to be "a full-time couch dog."

Foster trained with Cally alongside fellow 2019 police academy graduate the late Hayden Phillips and his K9 unit, Jolly, a Belgian Malinois. (Two other of Foster's academy classmates, Caleb Conley and Brandon Shirley, have been killed, a grim reminder of the potential perils of their profession's daily duties.)

Foster has also taken Cally to the Adair County E911 Center. Its director, Derrick Murphy, told the Lindsey Wilson students that Cally is "good for therapy."

"She sheds a lot and drinks a lot of water, and she's a loving dog," said Murphy.

Emphasis on experiential learning

Officer shares with students in substance abuse class Cain said that the visit by Foster and Cally was an example of how she stresses experiential learning in her classes as a way to prepare students for real-world situations they will face in their careers.

"Anybody can be book smart, but you have to know how to apply the skills to what you do," she said.

And Cain said the presence of Foster and Cally on campus was also an opportunity for students to learn more about the work of local law enforcement agencies.

"It's a great partnership with our law enforcement partners because it creates safe opportunities for them to interact with our students," said Cain.

Lindsey Wilson student Anthony Davis '27 said he was impressed with Cally's abilities.

"It was so easy for a dog like her to find drugs," said Davis, a sport performance major from Stephens City, Virginia.

In addition to learning from Foster's talk that "meth is really expensive," Isabella Trotter '28 was another Lindsey Wilson student impressed with the dexterity and skill of his canine partner.

"She can really get to the drugs fast," said Trotter, a human services and counseling major from Columbia.

Fellow student Peyton Walkup '28 said she was equally fascinated with Cally's dogged diligence on the job, but she was even more amazed at how well the Labrador Retriever had been trained.

"They have such a strong sense of smell that is really impressive, but I'm surprised they can train them that well," said Walkup, a human services and counseling major from Columbia. "It took me two years just to get my dog to sit down."

Pictured: Cally, an 8-year-old blonde Labrador Retriever of the Columbia Police Department’s K9 unit, locates where Sgt. Trevor Foster, left, has hidden drugs during a demonstration on Thursday, Oct. 15, for Lindsey Wilson University counseling professor Mahalia Cain’s “Substance Abuse” and “Abnormal Psychology” classes.

Pictured, bottom: Columbia Police Sgt. Trevor Foster shows samples of illegal narcotics to Lindsey Wilson University students Addison Maynard ’28 of Russell Springs, Kentucky, left, and Isabella Trotter ’28 of Columbia.