Officer Jager paused briefly between fundraiser photo ops Saturday to watch over one of his sons, who is in training to someday follow in his paw prints.
A one-year veteran of the Markham Police Department, Jager spends most days on patrol cruising around in a Dodge Charger police car driven by his partner, Officer Joe Johnston, who said the K9 keeps him safe “every day.”
“He’s so alert. People might be walking past the car, and I will be focused on something else, and he’ll start barking,” the 6-year officer said.
On Saturday, Jager, a purebred German Shepherd, joined other body armor-clad K9 officers and their human handlers at the fundraising event at Lynwood’s Paw Palace.
Benefit organizer Staci Goveia expected the event to bring in more than $12,000 for Vested Interest in K9s, a Massachusetts-based nonprofit that provides bullet and stab protective equipment for four-legged officers and protective dogs.
“We vest dogs throughout the United States,” Goveia said.
This year has been particularly rough for police dogs across the country, she said. Fourteen K9 officers were killed in the first three months of 2016.
Goveia first wanted to help after seeing a 2014 Facebook post about an Oklahoma K9 that died protecting his human partner. In short order, she helped raise money to buy vests for dogs working with departments in Markham, Lynwood and downstate Metropolis.
By the first vest, Goveia said she caught the attention of Vested Interest President Sandy Marcal and started volunteering as an application reviewer. Vests are custom made for a dog, if the department’s application is approved.
Each $1,050 raised covers the cost of a protective vest that lasts for five years. Since 2009, Vested Interest has provided more than 1,900 vests for dogs across the country.
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Jager and Dante, the Lynwood Police Department’s K9, were trained at Paw Palace, which provides boarding, grooming and training services for pet owners.
“Since I was a little kid, I’ve wanted to do it,” Johnston said. He proposed the addition of a K9 officer to Markham’s city administration before getting the “green light” for Jager, who resides with the mother of his six puppies, Xoco, at Johnston’s home.
Goveia started volunteering at Paw Palace in 2015.
“And now I’m here every day,” she said. “I just love dogs.”
More information about Vested Interest in K9s can be found at www.vik9s.org. Details about training at Paw Palace is available at pawpalace.com.
