A bullet-proof bark

Ellen McCarty

FOUNTAIN VALLEY -- Though they may not speak publicly about it, Bear and

Ringo, members of the police canine unit, have a vested interest in

protecting canine units from bullets.

“Vest a Dog” was started by a 10-year-old girl in Oceanside, in August,

after she read about a police dog shot to death in the line of duty in

New Jersey.

The cause has spread quickly across the country, and now Costa Mesa

residents Jane Herbert and Casey Donahue have spearheaded the effort in

Orange County.

They have initiated an ongoing fund-raiser, and spoke about their cause,

“Vest a Dog,” at a special police meeting held recently, where Bear

strutted his stuff, modeling the $475 black bullet-proof vest.

“Police have bullet-proof vests, why not dogs?” said Herbert.

Herbert and Donahue have donated the first vest to Fountain Valley, and

they hope to raise $3,425 in private donations to buy vests for all eight

police dogs in Huntington Beach, Fountain Valley and Costa Mesa.

“Our canines are like our partners on the force,” said Officer Eric

Orahood, who works with Ringo. “They do a heck of a job and we’d hate for

anything to happen to them.”

The vests would be used on the dogs only in a situation where a suspect

was contained in a building, Orahood said, and would protect the dogs

from blows and sharp objects, as well as bullets.

To donate to the fund, call 478-2738.