Every Single K9 in the Norfolk, Virginia’s PD Will Be Getting a Lifesaving Ballistic Vest: Thanks to a Donation from Anderson Cooper

On Monday January 11, 2016 the Norfolk, Virginia police department lost one of its bravest members, a K9 named Krijger. The pup was a four-year-old Belgian Malinois. The brave canine officer died during a shootout after officers responded to a domestic violence call.

According to Pilot Online, those close to the pup say that he would have survived had he been wearing a ballistic vest.

These vests are expensive, each one costing roughly $2,200, and most police departments cannot afford them. But, thanks to one very kind, and very famous, good Samaritan, every single dog in the Norfolk PD is about to get one.

Who’s the good Samaritan in question? Anderson Cooper.

The CNN news anchor donated the funds via the Virginia based charity Spike’s K9 Fund. Cooper had previously interviewed the charity’s founder, retired SEAL Jimmy Hatch, in 2015 and the two have stayed in contact.

Hatch announced the donation on Spike’s K9 Fund’s website:

We are humbled to announce that Anderson Cooper has donated his speaking fee for his upcoming “Norfolk Forum” speech (26 January) to Spike’s K9 Fund for the K9 Krijger Ballistic Vest Campaign. His donation was quite generous. All of the Norfolk K9’s will be outfitted and we will start outfitting K9’s from other cities in Hampton Roads with the remainder.

Dogs love us unconditionally and, every day, many of them selflessly risk their lives to protect us. Anderson Cooper did a beautiful thing by donating this money and making sure that they are protected when they put their lives on the line.

You can watch a local news report about Krijger below:

If you would like to help other canine officers obtain a lifesaving ballistic vest, you can donate funds in Krijger’s memory via Spike’sK9 Fund.

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The Smartest Dog in the World

The following is a script of "The Smartest Dog in the World" which aired on October 5, 2014, and was rebroadcast on June 14, 2015. Anderson Cooper is the correspondent. Denise Schrier Cetta, producer.

Human beings have lived with dogs for thousands of years. You'd think that after all that time we'd have discovered all there is to know about them. But, as we first reported last fall, it turns out that until recently scientists didn't pay much attention to dogs. Dolphins have been studied for decades, apes and chimps as well, but dogs, with whom we share our lives, were never thought to be worthy of serious study. As a result, we know very little about what actually goes on inside dogs' brains. Do they really love us, or are dogs just licking us so they can get fed? How much of our language can they understand? Before you answer, we want you to meet Chaser, who's been called "the smartest dog in the world."

Eighty-six-year-old retired psychology professor John Pilley and his border collie Chaser are inseparable.

To read more on this story, click here: The Smartest Dog inthe World

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