Yesterday, Eric, Kerry, and I drove 100 miles through the pounding rain to the Harrisburg Public Works building to donate some of our beds to deserving K-9 officers who work in the area. We do one of these events every month, and this was one of our largest, with 23 active and retired K-9 heroes taking home a new Big Barker bed. Officers from Harrisburg, Derry Township, and Lower Paxton Township as well as Capitol Police and the Dauphin County’s Sheriff’s Office were in attendance for the big day, most with the K-9’s themselves. Corporal Ty Meik was an awesome host and could not have been more grateful that all of the K-9’s in his department would now have the best resting surface possible to go home to at the end of a long day.
“Hey, do I get one too?” (yes, you do!)
We had the privilege of meeting some really interesting dogs at yesterday’s event. There was one female K-9 (we’ve only met males in the past), Loki, who is trained to assist fire investigators in locating evidence of arson at fire scenes. Fero, a ten-year-old K-9, has had spine surgery. Another K-9 officer, Zeke, had actually been shot at point blank range in the line of duty but returned to his duties after just 6 weeks in recovery! Kind of makes our own dogs’ lives look a little hum-drum!
Another amazing dog was Zeke, who made a stunning recovery after being shot at point-blank range in the neck. Zeke now has his own line of leashes, collars, and apparel, with a portion of every sale being donated to police, military, and service dog organizations.
K-9 Loki… Aaaahhh!!!
As always, Eric was excited to hang out with the dogs for a while and see them try out their new beds firsthand. During the ceremony, he said, “We can help provide them a more comfortable rest for those tired bones and muscles as they go home, so we feel police dogs are one of the groups we can benefit the most.”
We were delighted that the Harrisburg Press came out to the event in full force. In attendance were Fox43, ABC27, and CBS21 along with PennLive.com. Check out some of the stories!
As usual, we had a great time meeting both officers and dogs, and we’re looking forward to getting feedback as the dogs get their new beds home and try them out for a few nights.
Thanks to everyone who participated in the event, and thanks especially to the dogs themselves for their service!
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