SEPTA Transit Police Department's three-year-old Dutch Shepard, Swen, has received a new bullet and stab-proof vest to keep him safe on the job.
The four-legged officer is one of 13 K-9s at SEPTA Transit Police. Swen serves as a bomb detection dog by performing routine sweeps of the system and responding to calls of unattended bags.
The new vest was a charitable donation from the nonprofit organization Vested Interest in K9s, Inc.
Since 2009, Vested Interest's mission has been to provide bullet and stab protective vests to dogs of law enforcement.
Get Philly local news, weather forecasts, sports and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC Philadelphia newsletters.
The organization has provided over 5,000 vests to K-9s in all 50 states with the help of both private and corporate donations.
"The only major challenge with operating a K-9 program is cost. It's expensive to operate a police K-9 program," SEPTA Transit Police Chief Charles Lawson said during a news conference. "Our K-9s receive all of the benefits that every other employee at SEPTA receives, medical, food, training tools and equipment. And it requires a great budgetary commitment from the organization and we're thankful when we have partners in the community that step up, that think about this program and these animals the same way that we do. "
Local
Breaking news and the stories that matter to your neighborhood.
Sign up for our Breaking newsletter to get the most urgent news stories in your inbox.
