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Police Dogs Even the Odds With
Body Armor SANFORD, Fla. (Reuters) - Fearless police dogs in Florida are dressing for danger in bulletproof vests made of the same Kevlar armor that their handlers wear. "We really don't want to lose any of our dogs," Deanna Brown, spokeswoman for the Seminole County Sheriff's Department in central Florida, said Friday. The department fitted its four German shepherd dogs with the vests this week. Made by a company called Second Chance, they weigh about two pounds (900 grams) and are similar to those that human officers wear, except they have four armholes. "They don't seem to mind them at all," Brown said. "They do not hamper or impede them in any way." A local couple donated the $1,000 vests after reading about a police dog that had been wounded in the line of duty. Nationwide, eight police dogs were killed in 1998, according to the U.S. Police Canine Association. "The dog is typically the first one to encounter the bad guys," said Capt. Bill Armstrong, commander of Seminole's K-9 unit. "This gives the dog a better chance." He said each dog represented a $10,000 investment in training and equipment. Nearby Volusia County plans to get bulletproof vests for its dogs soon and Palm Beach County police dogs already wear them. A doctor donated those in May after hearing about a police dog killed in action.
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created June 27, 1999, last update June 27, 1999. Article was found on http://dailynews.yahoo.com. Direct all questions and comments to VoodooMirage@hotmail.com. |
