SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — Seventeen K-9 units with the San Diego County Sheriff's Office now have lightweight bulletproof vests that could make the difference between life and death in the field.
Pedro, a 3-year-old German Shepherd from Hungary, is one of the first to receive the new protective gear. Trained in narcotics and patrol (to bite), Pedro is regularly sent into dangerous situations — searching buildings, tracking suspects, and protecting deputies.
"A dog is a force multiplier," Deputy Nicholas Kafkas said. "Most people see a dog, and they immediately give up."
The Sheriff's Office received 17 new ballistic vests through Canine Storm, with each vest costing $3,900. The purchase was made possible by a donation from the Honorary Deputy Sheriff's Association and a private donor.
"We notified the HDSA probably in the summer of this year, and then they worked fast, and they had one donor that stood out and helped donate almost half of that, and then HDSA stepped in and did the other half," Sergeant Scott Pfeiferlich said.
The upgrade comes as a welcome change for the K-9 units.
Their vests expire every 5 years, and this new round represents a significant improvement over the bulky, cumbersome gear they had been wearing.
"The vests are very lightweight," Pfeiferlich said. "They only weigh about 1.5 pounds, and so the dog is actually able to wear that vest all day long for their 12-hour shift, and that vest does not affect the internal body temperature of that dog throughout the entire shift."
The vests proved their worth 2 years ago when one of the Sheriff's Office K-9s was shot and injured on the job. The dog survived and returned to work for several more years, demonstrating the effectiveness of bulletproof protection.
Still, the protective gear comes at a crucial time. Recently, two San Diego Police K-9s were seriously injured after being stabbed on the job, highlighting the dangers these working dogs face while protecting their communities.
Beyond bullet resistance, the new vests are also stab-resistant, flexible enough for K-9s to jump, and buoyant, helping K-9s in water-related situations. However, Kafkas says the temperature regulation feature is the biggest game changer.
"I think overall it's just that there's no downtime, so we can just deploy immediately, which ultimately could mean saving someone's life and we don't get into an officer-involved shooting," Kafkas said.
For anyone interested in supporting this program or learning more about our work, donations can be made through the HDSA website at www.sdchdsa.org [sdchdsa.org]
