Dogs on the Front Line

Police dogs are often on the front lines in the fight against violent criminals. For that reason, many police dogs have been fitted with bulletproof vests. Breston received his vest recently, thanks to a local girl who wanted to raise money to help protect him. In three weeks' time, she had collected enough money for not only Breston, but for every dog in three counties in Western New York State to get a bulletproof vest. The police departments actually had to ask the public to stop sending money.

Sadly, police dogs do fall in the line of duty. A life-size bronze memorial statue stands at police headquarters in Jacksonville, FL. A monument in tribute to police dogs' close relatives, war dogs, stands at March Field Air Museum in Riverside, CA. Information about many other police dog memorials can be found at Connecticut Police Work Dog Association: K-9 Memorial Monuments. The Connecticut Police Work Dog Association maintains a list of all the reported deaths of police dogs at CPWDA: Supreme Sacrifice-Police Dogs Killed In Service.