Donations
All of our Police Service Dogs are now outfitted with ballistic
vests.
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minimum of two patrol dogs are required at every tactical call and
they certainly deserve the protection of proper equipment. This
has been made possible by the generous donations of private
citizens and the timeless commitment of two families from
Ridgeway. Sarah Zanchin and Summer Lever are two young girls that
became aware that our canine partners were attending dangerous
tactical calls without the protection that our officers were
given. They began raising money through various fundraisers and
created the "Vest-a-Dog" campaign. Along with their
families, they spent an incredible amount of time out of their
busy schedules to organize various events. As a result of their
hard work, each patrol dog has been equipped with a ballistic
vest.
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Public
support for this campaign was greater than expected. The unit
consulted with the two young girls to decide what to do with the
excess funds. A decision was made to equip each of the patrol
vehicles with a combined "Bailout/Hotdog" system. This
equipment serves two functions. First, the handler is outfitted
with a remote control that is worn as part of their usual
equipment. If he/she requires assistance, at the touch of a button
the rear door of the police cruiser opens and the dog can
immediately respond to the handler. Secondly, the vehicle is
outfitted with a heat sensitive thermometer. In the event of a
mechanical malfunction where the temperature inside the vehicle
exceeds a certain point, the horn and lights are automatically
activated and the rear windows roll down. This ensures that our
valuable partners are always safe and the handler can immediately
respond to the vehicle and rectify the problem. This could prevent
a tragedy where one of our loyal partners could be put at risk.
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