JEFFERSON COUNTY, Colo. — A local animal hospital has donated ballistic resistant vests for two Jefferson County Sheriff's Office (JCSO) K9s in memory of JCSO K9 Graffit.
On February 13, Graffit was shot and killed while police and deputies were attempting to take a suspect into custody on the Colorado School of Mines campus.
According to JCSO, K9 Graffit was brought in to help with the search, released and given the command to apprehend the suspect.
The suspect fired his gun, striking and killing Graffit, police said. A forensic necropsy on Graffit confirmed that the suspect's bullet killed the dog, and at the time, Graffit was not wearing his bulletproof vest, the sheriff's office said.
"People just need to know that the old vest are good, but they were time consuming and these new vests are all costumed made to each dog," said Ann Fattor with the Green Mountain Animal Hospital.
A few days later, the hospital set out to raise funds for custom-made vests that would give K9s extra protection while they're out in the field.
"It’s basically a vest that the dogs can wear all day and they won’t get hot in it like they do with the old vests. Part of the incident that happened with Graffit was because they didn’t have time to put the vests on the dog," said Fattor.
With the support from the community, the hospital was able to raise around $7,600 to buy new stab and ballistic resistant K9 vests for two furry officers, K9 Anton and K9 Axel with the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office.
The old vests were bulky, difficult to work with and time consuming, but thanks to the new vests, the K9s will be able to wear all day, even during the hot summers.
“They mean a lot to us. There’s a partnership and a relationship that develops, but it also provides confidence for the handler and us to know that we’re not only protecting that dog for obvious reasons, but there’s a personal and investment as well.," said Ian Thompson with JCSO. "It’s more realistic with the technology advancement and the material for us to be able to keep them in the field with us at all times,"
Fattor said these updated vests are custom-made and cost between $3,000-$4,000 each.
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