Thursday January 25 8:45 AM ET
More Police Dogs Get Bulletproof Vests
dailynews.yahoo.com
SAN JOSE, Calif. (Reuters) - Growing numbers of U.S. police dogs are
being outfitted with bulletproof vests -- part of a new campaign to protect man's best friend from America's
most wanted.
Twelve K-9 police dogs in San Jose, Calif., on Wednesday became the latest to be equipped with bulletproof
protection, thanks to a donation from a local family, Sgt. Steve Dixon said.
``We're putting the vests on the dogs today to see how they do,'' Dixon said. ``If you look at the record for
police canines, there are quite a number of them that are either injured or die while in the line of duty.''
The San Jose dogs were the latest to benefit from publicity over programs like ``Vest-a-Dog,'' an Orange
County, Calif.-based nonprofit organization which aims to find public donors for canine bulletproof vests.
Leslie Mayr, who donated the vests to the San Jose police department, said she had heard about a donation
being made to police dogs in Sacramento and decided to take action.
``I knew that these dogs were technically police officers and I thought they should have the same protection'' as
human officers, Mayr said. ``San Jose is a big city, and it can be kind of dangerous. We should do this for
them.''
Dog vests have only recently been introduced to law enforcement and provide police dogs with added
protection during high-risk searches.
The vests run from collar to tail, attaching under the animal's belly with Velcro straps. Made of the same
materials used in human body armor, the jackets are designed to protect most vital organs of the dog from
gunshots or stab attempts.
While the vests -- which come in black, navy and olive green -- are not cheap at as much as $500 each,
officials say that is small price to pay considering police dogs themselves can cost as much as $8,000 apiece.
Vest-A-Dog was launched in 1999 by an 11-year-old California girl who grew concerned about K-9 safety
after reading about a New Jersey police dog killed in the line of duty. To date, the nonprofit organization has
helped arrange funding to provide bulletproof vests for some 600 police dogs around the country. |
