On Monday January 11, 2016 the Norfolk, Virginia police department lost one of its bravest members, a K9 named Krijger. The pup was a four-year-old Belgian Malinois. The brave canine officer died during a shootout after officers responded to a domestic violence call.
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According to Pilot Online, those close to the pup say that he would have survived had he been wearing a ballistic vest.
These vests are expensive, each one costing roughly $2,200, and most police departments cannot afford them. But thanks to one very kind, and very famous, good Samaritan, every single dog in the Norfolk PD is about to get one.
Who’s the good Samaritan in question? Anderson Cooper.
The CNN news anchor donated the funds via the Virginia based charity Spike’s K9 Fund. Cooper had previously interviewed the charity’s founder, retired SEAL Jimmy Hatch, in 2015 and the two have stayed in contact.
Hatch announced the donation on Spike’s K9 Fund’s website:
We are humbled to announce that Anderson Cooper has donated his speaking fee for his upcoming “Norfolk Forum” speech (26 January) to Spike’s K9 Fund for the K9 Krijger Ballistic Vest Campaign. His donation was quite generous. All of the Norfolk K9’s will be outfitted and we will start outfitting K9’s from other cities in Hampton Roads with the remainder.
The police department wrote this on Facebook:
We are at a loss for words. Following the passing of K-9 Krijger earlier this week, CNN's Anderson Cooper has donated enough money to get a vest for every K9 at the Norfolk PD. Truly amazing.
Posted by Hampton Police on Thursday, January 14, 2016
Dogs love us unconditionally and, every day, many of them selflessly risk their lives to protect us. Anderson Cooper did a beautiful thing by donating this money and making sure that they are protected when they put their lives on the line.
You can watch a local news report about Krijger below:
If you would like to help other canine officers obtain a lifesaving ballistic vest, you can donate funds in Krijger’s memory via Spike’s K9 Fund.
