Wag the dog: Illinois budget cuts elminate canine unit

State budget cuts have eliminated the positions of the five individuals who handled the Illinois Department of Corrections canine unit. While the workers landed other jobs within the state's sprawling prison system, the dogs were let go.

Department of Corrections spokesman Tom Shaer says the lack of a canine unit played no role in a recent search for an escaped inmate, noting that dogs from the sheriff's department were on the scene within 26 minutes of the escape, which would have been faster than any of the state dogs — if the state still had them.

"We weren't shortchanged or hampered in this effort," he said.