My name is Aubrey Kornrumpf, and I'm the practice manager at Suburban Animal Clinic in Butler, PA.  Recently, our city's only K-9 officer, Gunner, died suddenly.

I'm creating this campaign because our city needs at least one, and hopefully two, new K-9 officers.  These valiant animals are essential to the detection of drugs in our streets, and keeping our elderly population and children safe.  These brave warriors are much keener than any human counterpart in the detection of illegal narcotics and other dangerous substances, and their loyalty is unwavering.  Often, their mere presence and menacing growls on command are a sufficient deterrent to those who would commit crimes.

However, training these dogs is prohibitively expensive, especially for a police department like ours that doesn't have special funding.  Only a very select few dogs have the necessary temperament and breeding to be effective K-9 officers, and hence purchasing and training them requires a large sum of money.  There are many additional hidden costs that are included in having K-9 officers, such as:

• obedience and agility training for the dogs
• specialized training for the human officer handling the dog
• excellent preventive veterinary care, which can run to over $12,000 over the lifespan of the animal
• modified transportation for the human and K-9 officers to share
• cost of medical care in the event that the K-9 officer is injured in the line of duty

Once purchased, these dogs become part of their handler's family.  They live together and bond every single day.   We hope that you'll consider donating to this very worthy cause.  Remember - the next citizen that these loyal officers protect... could be you.

(For those of you who are local and would like to donate directly, please stop in to Suburban Animal Clinic in Butler.  We will be keeping a fund at the clinic under lock and key for those who would prefer to donate with cash or check.)