COVINGTON (WGNO) — The Saint Tammany Sheriff’s office announced that eight K9 deputies are getting body armor thanks to a donation from the nonprofit group Vested Interest in K9s, Inc.
Here is a photo gallery of five of the eight deputies with their vests.
The K9 deputies are named Cado, Sarge, Cenzo, Thor and Nero. The sheriff’s office says the group paid for the vests thanks to a donation from an anonymous sponsor. Each is embroidered with the words, “This give of protection provided by Vested Interest in K9s, Inc.”
One of the dogs is Thor. Perhaps you remember when he was nearly killed by a burglary suspect who stabbed him in the neck. Sheriff Jack Strain says Thor saved his human partner’s life by intercepting the suspect as he attacked. The suspect in that case was shot and killed. The new vests offer bullet and stab protection.
In another case, a suspect who was running from deputies tried to kill Thor by pulling him under the water.
As part of the announcement, the sheriff’s office also included the bios — below — of each of the K9 dogs pictured. We think it would go great on K9 deputy trading cards!
K9 Nero is a 3-year-old German Shepherd assigned to Deputy Clint Kiley. K9 Nero is patrol and narcotics certified. DFC Kiley has been a K9 handler with the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office since 2013. K9 Nero was born in the city of Vitanova, located in Slovakia. He was purchased from LA K9, located in Abbeville. He became a member of the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office in 2013 and has completed approximately 550 hours of training with DFC Kiley. K9 Nero enjoys running in open fields, playing fetch and K9 training days. He dislikes sharing his water bowl with bloodhound K9 Jep.
K9 Sarge is a 3-year-old Belgian Malinois. He is certified in tracking, narcotics and apprehension, and is assigned to Deputy First Class Shawn Barrow. Deputy Barrow has been a K9 handler with the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office since 2012. K9 Sarge was purchased from LA K9. He became a member of the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office in April of 2014 and has completed more than 720 hours of training. K9 Sarge loves chewing on his Kong and playing tug-a-war. He has a strong dislike for suspects who are intent on assaulting, escaping or evading his handler.
K9 Cado is a 4-year-old Belgian Malinois. He is patrol and narcotics detection certified and is assigned to DFC Chris Harman. DFC Harman has been a handler with the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office K9 division since 2008. K9 Cado was purchased from LA K9 in August 2013 and has completed more than 600 hours of training. K9 Cado enjoys running, playing with his Kong and K-9 training days. He dislikes suspects that try to evade him when he is working.
K9 Cenzo is a 6-year-old Belgian Malinois. He is patrol and narcotics detection certified and is assigned to Sgt. Robert Edwards. Sgt. Edwards has been a handler with the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office K9 division since 2003. K9 Cenzo was purchased from Worldwide K9, located in San Antonio, Texas. He became a member of the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office in August 2011 and has completed more than 750 hours of training. K9 Cenzo enjoys running, playing with his Kong and finding illegal narcotics. He strongly dislikes suspects who try to evade him.
K9 Thor is a 4-year-old Belgian Malinois. He is certified in patrol and narcotics detection. K9 Thor is assigned to DFC Ronald Olivier. DFC Olivier has worked with the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office since 2007 and began working with K9 Thor in December 2012. K9 Thor was purchased through LA K9 and was funded by a donation from a local resident. He has conducted more than 600 hours of training. K9 Thor has aided in making several arrests on criminals, two of which tried to kill him. One subject attempted to drown him and another stabbed him with a knife. In the second incident, K9 Thor is credited with saving the lives of two deputies. When K9 Thor isn’t working, he enjoys playing with his Kong and sneaking on the sofa. The one thing that makes him the most excited is getting into his unit to go on patrol.
The vests cost around $2,000 each and weigh around five pounds.
Vested Interest is based in Massachusetts and has provided more than 1,800 vests in 49 states at a cost of more than $1.6 million since it was established in 2009. If you’d like to contribute and help more K9 deputies receive the vests, you can find more information on the group’s website.