Metro Detroit business donates K9 first aid kits to Michigan State Police
BRIGHTON, Mich. (CBS DETROIT) - DogWatch in downtown Brighton, a doggy boutique and invisible fence installation company, purchased and donated canine emergency kits to Metro Detroit police departments.
"They can actually get hit, or stabbed or shot; there's bandages in there for the dogs, not the humans," said Michigan State trooper Jeff Schrieber, who works with K-9 officer Woodson within Michigan State Police.
Michigan State Police canine officers face some of the same challenges and dangers human officers face. They're out in our communities on the hunt for missing people, searching for narcotics, and keeping us safe.
"A lot of times they're put in situations that are not the most friendly," said Schrieber. "Almost every day, we're out there looking for somebody."
The donated kits contain bandages, peroxide, clippers for the dogs' nails, and even tick-removal tools.
"I learned that the state police have had first aid kits in their cars for themselves but not their dogs," said Corrie Gizicki of DogWatch.
Gizicki came across the kits at a pet expo and decided to buy a few to donate. She found that Michigan State Police gladly welcomed the donations since they hadn't had kits like these available.
"I did not at all expect their excitement and enthusiasm about it, but they were," she said. "They said they would come by last week to pick them up, and we expected one or two officers maybe to show up, and we actually had seven officers and their dogs come to our store on Thursday."
Gizicki says the kits have items that are recognizable to her from her experience working in an emergency room.
"I work in an emergency room, and they actually have Coban that we use on humans, but it has little puppy prints on it, which I thought was fantastic," she said. "There's 90 items in here, so you name it, they kind of have it covered here."