Methuen Police Dog Receives Gift of Bullet-Proof Vest

Officer Matthew Meuskes and K-9 Duke received a donated K-9 ballistic vest and medical kit. (Photograph courtesy of Methuen Police.)

A Methuen police dog is the latest recipient of a ballistic vest and emergency first aid kit from a nonprofit organization seeking to “ensure that every Massachusetts K-9 has a bulletproof vest.”

Methuen Police Officer Matthew Meuskes and K-9 Duke received a donated K-9 ballistic vest and medical kit last week from Massachusetts Vest-A-Dog, Inc., Walpole, according to a statement released Monday. The vest, which can cost from $1,006 to $2,400, will also be used “to protect (them) against blunt force trauma if they are kicked, punched or struck with an object.”

“We are grateful that this organization has so generously donated a K-9 bulletproof vest to Duke,” Methuen Police Chief Joseph E. Solomon said. “Too often people forget that these K-9s are trained to give up their lives in order to protect their community just like human officers, so we are glad to see that he now has the protection that he deserves.”

Duke’s new vest is made of the same ballistic material as a human officer’s vest and weighs approximately six pounds. K-9 vests are not worn like a uniform and are only used as needed when there is an increased danger level.

Massachusetts Vest-A-Dog, celebrating its 15th anniversary, is “an independent, all-volunteer, non-profit 501(c)3 organization dedicated to provide support for Massachusetts Police Dogs: helping provide bulletproof K-9 vests, essential equipment, training, and dogs for police / law enforcement programs throughout Massachusetts,” according to its website.

From 2000 until 2008, Massachusetts Vest-A-Dog was a division of the Barnstable Police Association.