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That soon will change when most of the police dogs in the city’s K-9 unit will get bulletproof vests, donated by PetArmor and the nonprofit organization Vested Interest in K-9s. Each vest costs approximately $1,000.
So far this year, seven police dogs have died in action around the country — none from Florida. In 2013, three Florida dogs were among the 18 nationwide that died. They were from Miami Gardens, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and Leon County.
“To a police officer, the dog is his partner,” said Sgt. Freddie Cruz, Miami police spokesman. “He trains him and takes him home every day.”
Losing a dog “is like losing a family member,” Cruz said. The most common causes of death are overheating, shootings or stabbings. The last dog to die in action in Miami was Atlas, partner to officer Wayne Cooper, in 2000.
This year, the company PetArmor has donated money to departments around the country to buy bulletproof vests for police dogs.
Miami uses trained police dogs to detect narcotics, explosives and currency.
“They are used in airports to fight drug trafficking and money laundering,” said Sgt. Garret Wing, a K-9 supervisor. “We have recently developed a ‘dog weapon,’ whose specialty is to find hidden firearms and cartridge shells at shooting and murder scenes.”
Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/06/18/4187153/police-dogs-in-miamis-k-9-unit.html#storylink=cpy
