Georgiasafek9.org
Title
Georgia Safe K-9 Project
Description
About the Georgia Safe K-9 Project
This project was founded by Carmen Wise, a sophomore at Effingham County High School. Between her dad working as a CSS Officer for Savannah Chatham Metropolitan Police Department and being involved with her mom in training her family's two German Shepherds (Sabre and Maxwell) for Search and Recovery, she is naturally interested in issues affecting the police and working dogs. During a National Night Out event recently, she spoke with some Effingham Sheriff Deputies about their K-9s. While talking to them, she discovered that their dogs had no vests. Apparently there was not enough money in the budget to fund their safety. She had heard of similar fundraising projects being done in other states, and decided to start one for Georgia. After making some calls, it was determined that four dogs in Effingham and Chatham were working unprotected. Savannah Chatham Metro PD also expressed a need for a cooling vest to keep their dogs from overheating. She made this her starting point.
Effingham County Sheriff's Office K-9 teams and the Port Wentworth K-9 team are also trying to raise money to buy a bite suit (they currently have to borrow one to train their dogs) and three door pops (a remote way to open the door to let their dogs out if needed). If you would like to help the officers and give to their K-9 fund directly, please contact us or call their office and ask to speak to Deputy Thompson (ECSO) or Sgt. Libby (Pt. Wentworth).
The project is an all-volunteer labor of love. Money is only disbursed to purchase vests and to pay for filing fees to the IRS and the state. While at some point the funds may need to purchase some supplies, currently all jars, thank you cards, stamps, etc are being donated by Online Guardians (a volunteer information site run by Carmen's parents with a lot of valuable information about how to stay safe online and how to keep your kids safe from predators)
