Worcester County Sheriff’s Police Dog to Receive Body Armor

Thursday, July 14, 2016

GoLocalWorcester News Team

K9 Maya

The Worcester County Sheriff's Office announced that K9 Maya will receive body armor in the form of a bullet and stab protective vest. The vest comes as a charitable donation from the non-profit organization Vested Interest in K9s, Inc.

"The Worcester County Sheriff's Office is very appreciative of the Vested Interest in K9s Organization for their generous donation of a bullet and stab protective vest for our K9 Maya. Our K9's work very hard each day facing challenging situations and keeping us safe, it's extremely important we do all we can to help keep them safe in the line of duty," said Worcester County Sheriff Lew Evangelidis.

K9 Maya is a 2-year-old single purpose trailing bloodhound.

Vested Interest in K9s, Inc

Vested Interest in K9s, Inc is a charity located in East Taunton, MA whose mission is to provide bullet and stab protective vests and other assistance to dogs of law enforcement agencies.

Since their creation in 2009, they have provided more than 1,900 protective vests in 49 states through private and corporate donations at a cost of over $1.7 million.

The program is open to dogs actively employed in the U.S. law enforcement or related agencies who are certified and at least 20 months of age. New K9 graduates, as well as K9s with expired vests are eligible to participate.