Dinwiddie’s newest police dog getting body armor from national nonprofit
DINWIDDIE — A couple from Illinois is putting on the dog … or putting it on the dog, rather … in Dinwiddie County.
The Dinwiddie Sheriff’s Office announced Friday that Joker, one of its K9 officers, will be outfitted with a bulletproof and stab-proof vest thanks to a donation from Don and Misty Fike of Galesburg, a city 45 miles northwest of Peoria. The donation was made through the nonprofit group Vested Interest in K9s Inc., an association focused on getting body armor for dogs in law enforcement and other regulatory agencies.
Joker’s vest, which should be ready in about 8-10 weeks, will be embroidered with the words, “Born to Love-Trained to Serve-Loyal Always.”
Joker is a two-year-old German Shepherd and the newest member of the county’s three-dog K9 team. The other two dogs are Puma and Zoe.
Their two-legged partners are, respectively, deputies Cody Scott and Ryan Booth, and Sgt. Zac Hare.
Scott and Joker recently completed 13 weeks of training at American K9 Interdiction in Carrsville, Virginia.
Since its inception in 2009, Vested Interest has provided more than 5,200 armor vests to police dogs in all 50 states through public and private donations. Each vest is custom-made for the dog, weighs between four and five pounds and has a price tag of around $1,800.
This article originally appeared on The Progress-Index: Dinwiddie’s newest K9 getting his own body armor
