Full Notification

HARRIS COUNTY, TX – Houston based charity K9s4COPs is the recipient of a generous $25,000 dollar donation from the Harris County Sheriff’s Office in recognition of their invaluable work to aid the law enforcement community. Sheriff Ron Hickman presented the organization’s founder Kristi Schiller with the donation in a private ceremony Thursday.

K9 deputies cost between $10,000-$15,000 per dog, making it difficult to fully staff the HCSO K9 patrol unit. K9s4COPs was founded to ensure that K9 cost never keeps a deputy from having their K9 partner.

17 of the 21 active K9 deputies patrolling the streets of Harris County were gifted to the agency through the K9s4COPs program. Through training and courage, HCSO K9 deputies have racked up significant accomplishments on behalf of the citizens of Harris County.

K9 “BRET”:
Deputy S. Brown and “Bret” have conducted 27 building and area searches, captured eight (8) felony suspects, seized 562 grams of methamphetamine, 6.34 kilograms of cocaine, 52 grams of heroin, and 4 firearms. Bret has seized $5,352.00 in U.S. Currency and was responsible for the seizure of over 3,537 pounds of marijuana valued at approximately $20 million.

K9 “ZIKO”:
Sergeant C. Moore and “Ziko” have been partners for only 10 months. “Ziko” has conducted 46 various area and building searches, made eighteen (18) captures, fourteen (14) K-9 assisted arrests. Sergeant Moore has also used canine “Ziko” in the seizure of $593,815.00 in United States Currency. “Ziko” has located and recovered eight (8) firearms and recovered 3,265 grams of methamphetamine.

K9 “TOMMY”:
Deputy J. Bullock and canine “Tommy” have made nineteen (19) captures, ten (10) K-9 assisted arrests, including (19) felony suspects and ten (10) misdemeanor suspects. Deputy Bullock has also used canine “Tommy” in the seizure of $13,012.00 in United States Currency. “Tommy” has located and recovered eleven (11) firearms.

K9s have a rich history of working with law enforcement and military units dating back to the 1800s. Police K9s receive specific training to assist law enforcement in ways other tools cannot. The structure of a dog’s nose gives it a sense of smell that is 300,000-500,000 times stronger than the human nose, allowing them to follow a scent trail undetectable to humans, even breaking down specific scents. (source: K9s4COPs)

K9s4COPs has not only supported law enforcement in Harris County, but agencies and schools across the globe. In December 2015, the organization donated a K9 named Liberté to the French National Police. The gift was made in the wake of the loss of K9 Diesel. K9 Diesel lost his life during a raid on a terrorist home in France

For more information on K9s4COPs visit their website at http://k9s4cops.org/.