Family donates K9 vest in memory of Carly Batz
February 21st, 2009 | by admin |
A bullet- and stab-proof vest was given to Chicco, a 6-year-old German Shepherd who is part of the Eau Claire County Sheriff’s Department’s K-9 unit, and Carly Batz would have been happy to see it happen, the girl’s mother said Friday.
“My daughter would have loved this,” Stacey Batz said of her 16-year-old daughter, an animal lover who was killed Dec. 18 in a traffic crash.
“It’s a very worthwhile cause,” Stacey Batz said.
Stacey and her husband, Greg, and the couple’s daughter, Sara - a senior at UW-Eau Claire - were in Eau Claire Friday to see protective vests given to Chicco and Gunnee, a dog with the Marshfield Police Department’s K-9 unit.
The vests were purchased in Carly’s memory through the Wisconsin Vest-A-Dog program, a nonprofit organization whose goal is to provide bullet- and stab-proof vests for the state’s 235 canine officers.
Stacey Batz and her family live in Sun Prairie, and she works for the Deer Grove Veterinary Clinic in Cottage Grove.
Clinic staff wanted to do something in memory of Carly and decided to try to raise enough money, $840, to buy a vest for a canine officer, said Kristi Carnahan, the clinic’s practice manager.
Over the past six weeks, the clinic has donated $10 for every nail trim it provided and also received additional donations from clients and businesses in the Sun Prairie area, Carnahan said.
The clinic has raised enough money to buy seven vests and hopes to continue to raise more money to buy additional vests, she said.
“We’ve had a pretty phenomenal response,” Carnahan said. Donna Morgan of Janesville founded Wisconsin Vest-A-Dog three years ago. Less than 10 percent of the K-9 units in Wisconsin have the protective vests, she said.
“There’s over 200 that do not have them,” Morgan said.
Chicco’s handler is Eau Claire County Sheriff’s Deputy Paul Zurek, who said it makes sense for his partner to have a vest.
“We wear them every day, so the dog should be able to too,” he said.
Friday was the second straight day Chicco wore the vest, and he seems to be adjusting to the new apparel, Zurek said.
“The first time he was trying to rub it off, but he seems fine with it now,” Zurek said.
Most K-9 officers killed while on duty are shot or stabbed by the suspects they are attempting to apprehend, Morgan said.
The vests are the only protection these dogs have until their human partners arrive on the scene, she said.