Bay Area Pet Lovers Open Wallets for K-9s in Need
Bullet proof vests will don many more K-9s
San Mateo County Sheriff's Office
It costs about $30,000 to train and get one of the dogs ready for the force, but police say it's well-worth the price to protect them.
Budget troubles aren't just hounding state lawmakers. Bay Area police dogs are feeling the pinch too.
Officers say as many as 100 dogs from departments across the Bay Area report for duty without bulletproof vests.
A Bay Area pet store joined the fight to keep the dogs protected this weekend and raised more than $47,000 on Saturday. Pet Food Express donated the proceeds from every $15 do-it-yourself dog wash to the "Western States Police Canine Association." After hearing about the fund raiser, nine people walked into store and plunked down the $1,200 needed to buy one vest. The rest of the money was raised by the tokens and other smaller donations. Pet Food Express is still taking donations.
Police dogs often handle the most dangerous tasks. Santa Clara Police K9 Handler Christopher Bell says his German Shepard, 3-year-old Cesar, tracks down suspects, patrols SWAT incidents and sniffs for hidden narcotics.
Canines are particularly vulnerable to attacks from suspects desperate to avoid arrest. Officers say their canine partners risk being stabbed, shot and beaten. Some have even died in the line of duty.
To Bell, Cesar is more than a pet. "He's our partner," says Bell. "He's the one thing I can count on at all times to do what I need him to do. I need to offer him the same protection that I have to keep him safe."
So what's keeping every Bay Area canine from being outfitted with the proper protective gear? The cost. On average, canine vests cost almost twice the amount of human vests.
It costs cities about $30,000 to train each dog so, police say, protecting the valuable resources is worth the price.
"The dogs themselves are costly and the training associated with them is costly," says Santa Clara Police spokesman Phil Cooke, "so providing them with a protective vest, though itself is expensive, protects a larger investment."
Posted Sunday, Jul 19, 2009 - 7:57 AM PST
