Eight police K9s on the Asheville, North Carolina, police force will soon be outfitted with ballistic vests after an anonymous donor gifted $4,000 to the police department.
The vests on the dogs will be exactly like the ones the police officers wear and cost $800 each, according to the Asheville Police Department.
Although K9s are not required to wear vests, the vests provide an extra layer of protection from projectiles and weapons with edges.
“We think of our dogs as partners,” Asheville Police Department Lt. Brandon Moore told WLOS. “These officers who are the handlers for these dogs think of that individual as their partner, so they want them to have the same protection we have.”
K9 officers do a lot of important work in assisting law enforcement with their investigations. On Tuesday, a police K9 assisted officers in catching an alleged church burglar after he refused to move from his hideout in Santa Rosa, California.
K9s can also do a lot of work in sniffing out drugs, especially narcotics. In June, a K9 officer made a fentanyl and heroin bust on his first day of work.