PLYMOUTH, Pa. -- A police dog in Luzerne County has been named top dog in the country, beating out hundreds of other K-9s.
Sgt. Una has a unique assignment.
"There was no better feeling than to see Sgt. Una trot into my office with a first-place ribbon, announcing she won first place this year," said Krisa Piazza.
It's a school assembly at Wyoming Valley West High School in Plymouth to celebrate America's top police dog their Sgt. Una, a dog with a daily assignment to protect all these students and staff.
And Una sounded just as excited about everyone else with the win.
Everyone here helped Una get this honor, voting in the company Aftermath Services' nationwide K-9 contest. Una got 20,000 votes.
Una is highly trained. Her handler Larksville Police Sgt. Josh Evans can even tell her when to bark.
"She's truly an amazing dog and she inspires so many people and influences them and brings light to a room whenever she walks in," said Sgt. Evans.
Sgt. Evans is assigned to Wyoming Valley West and so is Una. She's always helping look for drugs or dangers and can quickly respond in case of a threat.
"We wanted to prove that we value Una and Sgt. Evans in our school and we wanted her to have grant money to continue being here for us and our community," said Krisa piazza, who teaches at Wyoming Valley West and organized the voting.
The win came just after Sgt. Evans learned the budget for Una's upkeep was getting low.
"It wasn't a week later that we won this $5,000, so it's truly remarkable."
This contest had 280,000 votes nationwide for around 1,500 police dogs. The $5,000 first place prize for Sgt. Una will be used for whatever she needs in her care and training.