Main fundraiser photo

Chester County K9 Officer Fund

In Chester County, PA, (4) K9 police officers. You read that right - the dogs that our officers use to sniff for drugs, aid in criminal apprehension, find explosives and countless other duties are officers of the law. They are not, however, quite as fortunate as their human counterparts. They receive no funding from the state or local governments for their day to day upkeep or even safety. Their vet bills, food and especially their protective gear comes out of their handler's own expenses.
These officers are not only part of the police force that they serve, but are also part of the handler's family, as the dogs go home with the handler at the end of the shift. There, they are pets as any other animal and are loved as much. The photo above is one such handler, Chief Curt Martinez with Bouc, aka Butch, a Belgian Malinois.
Butch, and the other K9 officers, need your assistance in procuring safety vests for their protection. These vests help in the same way a bullet-proof vest aids their human counterparts - the vests are rated to a certain bullet caliber and most are stab-proof. Think about that. In the event of a criminal apprehension when a dog is involved, the actor (perpetrator) may be armed with a gun and/or knife. The dog has no defense outside of a vest. The dog will commit to bringing down the offender - and may be injured or killed doing so.
These vests are expensive. Depending on the level of protection, they can run anywhere from $800 to $1500 per vest. What this campaign is to be used for is primarily fund raising for vests for the departments that do not have sponsored animals.

The Sheriff's department K9's have sponsors of their own for vests and expenses. The Chester County Sheriff Department has no association, affiliation or support to this campaign. I'll say that again - the Chester County Sheriff Department will not benefit from any donations from this campaign.

The hope behind this campaign is to reach our initial goal of $8K. At that point each of the 4 dogs will receive an equal percentage of the donations to be used as the department sees fit for each animal.

Let's be clear - all the money will go to the departments. I will not earn anything off this campaign - this is for the K9's!

The campaign will not have a time limit. The funds will be held until the goal is reached, upon which time the funds will be equally dispersed among the agencies with canines.
As an owner of a company that has served the police agencies of Chester County for the past 20 years performing graphics work for the departments (lettering/striping the police vehicles, amoung other tasks), I've gotten to know many of the officers. It's time that I give back to the departments that have supported myself and my business for so long. But I can't do it alone. The departments serve the public, let's try to help them out for a change!

I will be offering window stickers for this campaign, named "I'm a K9 Vest Friend" with the tagline "Helping Buy Vests for Man's Best Friend" that I will be sending out to everyone with a donation of $25 or more. The decal is still in the design phase, but will be posted up for review once complete. For higher levels of donation, I may offer up T-shirts with the same logo... let's see how we do!

Let's make this a public showing of support for not only the K9 officers, but our men and women in blue! I thank you, and they thank you for your support.

Campaign contributions may be tax deductable. I will send an email thanking for your contribution - check with your tax professional. Contributions may be made off-line in the form of cash or check as well.

Please read our updates below this description as the campaign rolls along!

Organiser

Rick Milne
Organiser
Downingtown, PA

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