One animal lover’s donation could mark the difference between life and death for Viper, a 5-year-old German Shepherd who’s part of WCSO’s K-9 unit.
Viper does apprehension and drug busting work for WCSO. According to WCSO Deputy Larry Neugebauer, who’s Viper’s partner and “dad,” “Viper is really good at what he does,” he said.
Viper hasn’t had any protective gear for the past four years, even though another dog recently came to the department with a vest. Although WCSO has had a budget for such K-9 gear, the vests are expensive — sometimes up to $2,000, Neugebauer said.
For this reason, Longmont businessman Dave Alquist’s donation of a protective harness for Viper in April “means a lot to us,” Neugebauer said. “To have that harness for when we go out on SWAT calls — where Viper could be sent into a building to apprehend somebody — is huge.”
“Even while Viper works on the streets, the harness is going to help him be a lot more protected, because otherwise he would just be running around without any protection at all,” Neugebauer said.
Earlier this year, Alquist vowed to make a difference for animals in the community when he learned about an incident where a dog from the Seattle Police Department was stabbed and killed while on duty on Jan. 5.
“Being an animal lover, my first thoughts were ‘that should never happen’ and ‘why didn’t the dog have a vest on?’” Alquist said.
Following the incident in Seattle, Alquist reached out to the Firestone Police Department to see if their K-9 canines had gear to protect them on duty — which they did. Next, Alquist talked to WCSO Sergeant Jerry Porter, who informed him that Viper was in need of a protective, bulletproof vest.
Over the next eight weeks, Alquist worked with Porter to obtain a custom vest for Viper.
On April 21, members of WCSO’s K-9 Unit were joined by Alquist at a police training at Rocky Mountain Christian Church in Frederick, where they presented Alquist with a team photo to show their appreciation, according to a WSCO Facebook post about the event.
Besides being honored for his donation, Alquist’s favorite part of the day was seeing how well WSCO’s dogs are trained, which was impressive, he said. However, “I didn’t get to love on Viper because he’s a biter,” Alquist added with a laugh.
Nevertheless, “I’m hoping that Viper lives a long, happy life and that no one tries to stab him,” Alquist said. “My family and I support law enforcement officers and their K-9 partners and we will continue to do so.”
