The Georgia K9 Foundation gifts new canine officer to Austell PD
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The Austell Police Department announced that it was the recipient of a new canine to replace a K9 officer wounded in action earlier this year. A nonprofit volunteer group out of Statesboro that supports police K-9 dogs across the state, the Georgia K9 Foundation, donated the police dog to the department. While chasing a fugitive on April 18th, Jerry Lee, a longtime Austell K9, was wounded by Dequan Cortez Glenn, 24, who was trying to escape a police checkpoint near I-20 in Douglasville. Glen shot the German shepherd in the left elbow and later killed himself, according to the GBI.
A 3-year-old Dutch shepherd that goes by the name of Bane, came to Austell from the Netherlands and has already begun his police training. Said the foundation’s president, Kyle Briley, “Typically, we as an organization do not purchase K9s for departments. However, with the enormous amount of support from not only Georgia, but also from across the country for K9 Jerry Lee, we knew without a doubt this was the right thing to do.”
The wound damaged was so severe that it forced veterinarians to amputate Jerry Lee’s leg, sending the K9 into retirement. He was taken in by its handler. The Georgia K9 Foundation received donations from across the country, which allowed it to pay more than $6,000 toward Jerry Lee’s medical expenses.
After learning thar budget constraints would not allow the Austell Police Department from filling Jerry Lee’s spot on the K9 force, the foundation stepped in to find a replacement.
Bane will be partnered with Jerry Lee’s handler, Austell police officer Edward Reeves, who spent nearly a year handling Jerry Lee. The K9 Foundation will pay $8,000 for his training expenses and will also outfit him with a K9 Streetfighter bulletproof vest. In addition, the group will pay to install an Ace K9 Heat Alarm in his police cruiser that sends out alerts and rolls down the back windows if the temperature gets too hot in the vehicle. In all, the Georgia K9 Foundation provided the Austell Police Department with more than $28,000 in donations for the medical costs, equipment, training and the purchase of Bane.
A nonprofit that supports police K-9 dogs across the state has purchased and donated a new K-9 dog for the Austell Police Department after Austell K-9 Jerry Lee was shot and forced into retirement earlier this year.
The Georgia Police K-9 Foundation said it had provided about $28,000 in fundraising to help with the cost of Jerry Lee’s medical bills and the cost of the new dog, training costs, a bullet-resistant vest and heat alarm.
The foundation, which seeks to raise awareness of K-9s and support them, said it has provided more than 110 vests and 44 heat alarms to Georgia K-9s. It also donates naloxone kits, a drug overdose antidote, in case dogs are exposed to opioids during drug searches.
