Crime & Safety

Help Police Dog 'Cirrus' Get Ballistic Vest

Hounds on Working Leashes (HOWL) is hosting fundraiser Wednesday for South Whitehall's police dog, who was recently fitted for a protective vest.

Hounds on Working Leashes (HOWL) is hosting two fund-raisers to help pay for a ballistic vest for South Whitehall's newest police dog, Cirrus.

A custom-fit protective vest, which would protect Cirrus from bullets and knives, cost $1,300, said HOWL founder James Kutz, of South Whitehall.

The fund-raisers will be held:

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  • Wednesday, from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Primo Hoagies on North Cedar Crest Boulevard, (across from Target), in South Whitehall.
  • Aug. 11, from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. at Applebee's, 1510 Cedar Crest Blvd., South Whitehall. Breakfast will be $8 for all-you-can-eat pancakes. There also will be a car wash from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., by Boy Scout Troop 8.
Kutz said he and his wife, along with family and friends, started HOWL to help buy safety equipment for emergency service K9s, in Allentown. But after talking with police department handlers and seeing news reports of police dogs killed in service, the group began to explore purchasing protective vests for police dogs. 

"We asked many handlers why the dogs didn't have vests like the officers did," Kutz wrote in an email. "Most said it was because they were too bulky and hindered the dog doing his job."

HOWL learned of bullet-proof and stab-proof custom-fit vests for police dogs, made by a company in California, which do not hinder the dogs in their work.

So far, HOWL has helped provide a customized vest for two area police dogs, including Salisbury Police Department's K9, Fonzie.  Money was donated by business owners Bill & Roth Rohrer of Gothic Inc. in Whitehall, Kutz said.

Other area police dogs also have been fitted, and their protective vests ordered, he said.   

Find out what's happening in South Whitehallwith free, real-time updates from Patch.


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