Bullet-proof dog vests

K-9 Units Usually Employ German Shepherds for Service Dogs.

I love this. There is a program called Vest-A-Dog, which provides bullet-proof vests for police dogs. The police officers get bullet-proof vests, so why shouldn’t their K-9 partners?

This program was started 10 years ago by an 11-year-old California girl who had read about a police dog in New Jersey who had been killed in the line of duty. Upon reading this news, young Stephanie Taylor saw a need and started looking for a way to fill it.

She started small, making it her goal to obtain a protective vest for an Oceanside, California K-9 named Tiko. Stephanie made donation boxes and distributed them at local pet stores and in veterinarians’ offices. Once the word spread about her project, Stephanie had collected enough money to purchase a vest not only for Tiko, but for five additional dogs in the Oceanside K-9 department. With this, the Vest-A-Dog Foundation was born. There are now Vest-A-Dog programs across the United States and Canada.

The official dog vest of the Vest-A-Dog program is the K-9 One Vest. Just one of these vests can cost around $600 or more, depending on the level of protection provided. Because of the cost of these vests, many K-9 units rely on donations from the public. The Vest-A-Dog Network itself does not take donations, but there are numerous non-profit organizations who will gladly accept monetary donations and use them to purchase K-9 vests. You can also purchase vests directly and donate them to local K-9 units.

Photo credit: Ameliorate! at en.wikipedia

June 24th, 2009 by Beth VanHoose | Posted in Dog Health, Dog Stories, Dog Training | (0)