Veterinary school supports police-dog project

Thanks to a special endowment fund, the Capital K-9s, a police-dog unit soon to be established at the Madison Police Department, will receive their veterinary care from the School of Veterinary Medicine.

The Theodore S. Plautz Service Animal Fund, an endowment that benefits service animals, is providing $10,000 as a first-year donation.

“It’s good to be a part of a positive community effort like this,” says Bill Gengler, director of the school’s Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital.

As soon as the police department’s two new Dutch shepherd and Belgian malinois police dogs and their handlers return from training in Michigan, the School of Veterinary Medicine’s preventative medicine service will give the dogs a complete physical. From there, the school will continue to provide the dogs with any necessary care.

The Madison Police Department recently decided to move ahead with a canine unit, but stipulated that funding must come from a private source. That jumpstarted the formation of Madison Capital K-9s, a nonprofit organization that will pay for the dogs, training and supplies, including a patrol car. The organization, which hopes to raise at least $60,000 by mid-April, has recruited 94.1 WJJO FM radio to help raise funds with on-air promotions.

Contributions can be sent to: Capital K-9s, Madison Community Foundation, P.O. Box 5010, Madison, WI 53705. For more information, contact Boris Frank, president of Capital K-9s, at (608) 845-3100.