Indiana State Police dogs Smitty and Apache now have body armor thanks to a generous donation from a nonprofit organization and other fundraising efforts.
The nonprofit organization, Vested Interest in K9s, Inc., provided the vests with help from a fundraiser event organized by the Alaska K9 Center, according to an ISP press release.
"We are very thankful for generous donation of these potentially life-saving vests for our K9s," ISP Indianapolis District Commander Lt. Jeff Payne said in the release. "Apache and Smitty are valuable assets to our community and providing them these safety tools will only enhance their effectiveness."
Vested Interest in K9s' mission is to provide bullet and stab protective vests for dogs working in law enforcement in the United States.
According to the ISP release, there are close to 30,000 law-enforcement K9s in the U.S., and Vested Interest has provided more than 2,800 vests since its creation in 2009.
To receive a vest, dogs must be actively employed with law enforcement or a related group and be at least 20 months of age.
The donation to provide one protective vest for a law enforcement K9 is $950.00. Each vest, if sold at retail value, would be approximately $1,700 to $2,300.
