The K9 Frankie, of the Waldo County Sheriff's Office, received a gift to keep him safe while on patrol.
When Kamrie Hodgeman heard that the there was no requirement for police dogs to have bullet proof vests, she decided to start raising money for her local K9. Hodgeman owns Paws and Claws Pet Spa and Daycare. She cares about every dog on the grooming schedule, but also for those who aren't.
"I wanted to so something special for our community, so we decided to go ahead and raise money to get a vest for Frankie," said Hodgeman.
Frankie is handled by Detective Sargent Merl Reed. Detective Reed puts his 5-year-old Belgium Malinois' nose to the test finding drugs, narcotics and sometimes people.
"We search for non-violent criminals, people lost, lost children," said Reed. "We do article searches if somebody throws a piece of evidence off the road into the side of the woods, we can search for that piece of evidence. He's also trained to do drug searches."
People in and around Belfast gave money and wrote checks. A K9 vest cost around $1,200, not an easy number to reach, but Paws and Claws collected enough money to get Frankie and a second dog in Maine a vest.
"It's always good to have that extra protection and it is just overwhelming to have a community and have Paws and Claws come forward to start the process," said Reed.
Frankie's vest was purchased with the help of Maine K9 Vests Fund.