Kenton County Police Department’s K9 Loki will receive a bullet and stab protective vest thanks to a charitable donation from non-profit organization Vested Interest in K9s, Inc.
K9 Loki’s vest is sponsored by a fundraiser hosted by Chive on NKY and will be embroidered with the sentiment “This gift of protection provided by Chive On NKY.”
Delivery is expected within eight to ten weeks.
K9 Loki and his handler, Officer Jason Deacon, have been working together since September 2014.
Loki is a dual-purposed K9 trained in patrol work and to locate illegal controlled substances. Patrol work consists of building searches, area searches, article searches, tracking, handler protection, and suspect apprehension.
Loki and Officer Deacon have assisted numerous agencies in Northern Kentucky as well as in Clermont and Hamilton Counties in Ohio. In assisting these agencies, as well as their own, their team has been responsible for multiple drug arrests, seizures and several apprehensions. Officer Deacon and K9 Loki have also conducted many demonstrations for the public and for schools. They look forward to serving the community and assisting other agencies for many more years to come.
Vested Interest in K9s, Inc. is a 501c (3) charity located in East Taunton, MA whose mission is to provide bullet and stab protective vests and other assistance to dogs of law enforcement and related agencies throughout the United States. The non-profit was established in 2009 to assist law enforcement agencies with this potentially lifesaving body armor for their four-legged K9 officers. Since its inception, Vested Interest in K9s, Inc. provided over 1,900 protective vests, in 49 states, through private and corporate donations, at a cost of over 1.7 million dollars. All vests are custom made in the USA by Armor Express in Central Lake, MI.
The program is open to dogs actively employed in the U.S. with law enforcement or related agencies who are certified and at least 20 months of age.
New K9 graduates, as well as K9s with expired vests, are eligible to participate. The donation to provide one protective vest for a law enforcement K9 is $1,050. Each vest has a value between $1,795 – $2,234 and a five-year warranty, and an average weight of 4-5 lbs.
There are an estimated 30,000 law enforcement K9s throughout the United States.
For more information or to learn about volunteer opportunities, please call 508-824- 6978. Vested Interest in K9s, Inc. provides information, lists events, and accepts tax-deductible donations of any denomination at www.vik9s.org or mailed to P.O. Box 9 East Taunton, MA 02718.
From Kenton County Police Department