DOG DAYS IN VERMONT
By - Rick Tetzeli

(FORTUNE Magazine) – The latest victims of state budget cuts include Cal, a German shepherd, and six of his fellow police dogs in Vermont. The seven got their pink slips after the U.S. Labor Department ruled that the state owed its dog-handling cops $37,000 in back pay. The sum represented a daily 30 minutes of overtime for the humans caring for Vermont's full complement of 15 K9s over the past two years. Rather than bite off a similar bill for the coming year, Vermont decided to reduce the number of dogs. How did Cal, 6, with 50 felony and misdemeanor collars to his credit, react? Says ex-partner Sergeant Sheila Goss, who continues to take care of him: ''He got a steak the day he was retired, but he still doesn't understand.''- R.T.