The Floyd County Police Department is pleased to accept a donation from We Ride to Provide, a K9 officer support group that provides survival equipment at no cost to law enforcement and K9 officers.
Sgt. Shea Hovers with K9 Lex and Sgt. Matt Henry with K9 Blaze received emergency medical kits this week to aid in performing first aid and field trauma care in the event their canine partners are injured in the line of duty. Officers from Rome Police Department and Floyd County Sheriff’s Office also received identical kits.
Jimmy Allred, senior deputy from the FCSO, was instrumental in logistics for the donation from We Ride to Provide (WRTP). The emergency first aid kits are durable tool boxes that contain an assortment of dressings and wound care such as Toxiban (poison neutralizer), nonsticking wrap for animals, Benadryl, syringes and sanitizer.
There are six K9 officers from the three local departments that received kits this week. We Ride to Provide began in June of 2009 as a one-time benefit for a very small department in Porterdale, GA that needed bullet resistant vests. The group grew to begin sponsoring a memorial event for fallen police dogs and is now assisting police departments in locating available K9 officers.
The motto for the group is “paying tribute to those lost, by providing for those left behind.” More than 2,400 first aid kits have been provided by WRTP since 2011. In that time the kits have helped save 21 K9 officers, 2 human officers and 2 civilians. “These dogs were loyal partners,” said Holly Cripps, president of WRTP. “They went to work regardless of the situation and on any shift asked of them. Some of them never made the front page of a newspaper or saved a life … but one thing that all Georgia police dogs that have lost their life have in common; they were police officers.” https://www.facebook.com/WeRideToProvide/
