Jackson County Sheriff’s K9 Officer To Receive Body Armor Donation

Jackson County’s K9 Officer Ozzy is set to receive a body armor donation.

K9 Deputy Miquela Sullivan said that the opportunity came about through the help of a non-profit organization called Vested Interest K9, Inc. Vests of this nature can typically cost over $2,000.

“He is my partner I’d honestly be lost without him at this point,” Sullivan said. “I am formerly military too so I feel like he is taking care of him as he does me every shift. I don’t really have to worry about anything happening just because we’ve learned to trust each other and I’m with him off-duty as well.”

Sullivan said that vests are introduced to K9s when they are first imprinted with K9 training and that Ozzy wears some kind of vest whenever he does tracking. She said this stab and bullet-proof vest will cover Ozzy’s major organs should he enter potentially hostile environments.

Sullivan said that the dogs are first introduced to vest training when they are imprinted on. She said that Ozzy actually wears a different vest when he is tracking.

“This body armor actually covers all of his major organs all the way from his shoulder blades all the way to right above his tail,” Sullivan said. “So it covers anything that could potentially harm him in a major way.”

Sullivan said that she encourages any other K9 Deputy to apply for the opportunity to get body armor like this.