K-9 Teams in San Francisco Receive Bullet-Proof Vests & The First-Ever Wearable K-9 Trauma Kit

The San Francisco Police Department Canine Unit will be receiving six custom-fit bullet-proof vests and Cover Your K-9 Stat Packs that have been generously donated by the Cover Your K-9 Program of the Police and Working K-9 Foundation. This will take place on Wednesday, July 9, 2014, at 10:00 am on Treasure Island at the barbeque area near the corner of Avenue of the Palms and Third Streets. SFPD dog units will be there modeling the donated vests, and the packs will be available for viewing.

The Police and Working K-9 Foundation, a non-profit corporation working to keep California law enforcement K-9 teams ‘covered’ with safety equipment and emergency medical care, started the Cover Your K-9 Program. This program has worked to provide custom K-9 bullet-proof vests, heat alarms for patrol cars, and worked with veterinary specialists to design a K-9 Emergency Medical Course, and custom K-9 Trauma Kit. This program is serving as a model for K-9 care across the country.

The Cover Your K-9 "Stat Pack" is about the size of a wallet and is equipped with specialized hemostatic pads to stop bleeding and other emergency supplies for a K-9 handler to have on his/her belt at all times. "The biggest threat to a K-9 that has been shot or injured in the field is bleeding to death, this K-9 Stat Pack is the first line of defense for a K-9 handler to save his partner," said Officer Alex Jose, Chairman of the Police and Working K-9 Foundation. Each life-saving pack costs approximately $75 and funds for the "K-9 Stat Packs" are thanks to donations by Oakland-based Pet Food Express and the community at last year’s Cover Your K-9 fundraiser.

Pet Food Express will be hosting the 2014 “Cover Your K-9” fundraiser on July 12 & 13th to raise additional funds to provide every K-9 team in the Bay Area with the emergency "Cover Your K-9 Stat Packs."