Making it safer for K9s on duty

The following press release has been issued by Cherokee County Sheriff's Office. 

Murphy, NC— The Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office received K9s Ajax (passive detector dog) and Gunner (bloodhound) in the summer of 2014 when they were but puppies. As they have grown and been certified, both have been put to work. Both Ajax and Gunner have been successful in their areas of expertise and are providing valuable services that enhance the capabilities of the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office. 

K9s are often employed in dangerous situations such as apprehending or tracking armed individuals. No government body tracks the number of police dogs killed or injured in the line of duty nationally, police-dog experts say. So many law enforcement agencies (from local police departments to the U.S. Border Patrol to customs) employ them agree that it's hard to compile statistics. 

Just like their human partners, K9s are benefited by the use of additional protection such as protective vests. Each K9 protective vest costs approximately $1,025.00 per K9 but certainly are a benefit to providing additional protection to these valuable crime fighting partners. 

Recently employees of the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office, including Deputy Jessica Owen, owner of Carolina Complete K9, undertook fundraising efforts to purchase vests for the two department K9s. During the activities, the Carringer/Crawford Memorial Lodge #65 joined in the fundraising efforts. 

On Thursday, July 16, 2015, Murphy Police Department Assistant Chief Dustin Smith, current President of Carringer/Crawford Memorial Lodge #65 in Murphy, along with Deputy Owen presented a check to purchase a protective vest for the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office K9 Ajax to Sheriff Derrick Palmer. 

Sheriff Palmer stated, “We are so thankful for this generous donation that was made to protect Ajax. I would like to encourage anyone that wishes to help fund a protective vest for Gunner our tracking dog to please make those through The Crawford/Carringer Lodge 65 or see Assistant Chief Dustin Smith at Murphy Police Department.”

---