275 Schoolhouse Road, Cheshire, CT 06410
Office: (203) 250-5661
Email: info@hometownfoundation.org
Police K-9 Program
Police Officers across the country dedicate their lives to serving their community every day, which is why we made it our mission to serve those serving others. Our Police K-9 Program was initiated in 2017 and focuses on donating fully equipped Police K-9s to law enforcement agencies across the country. Police K-9s are the most valuable supplement to manpower in a department because of their keen skillset. Police K-9s are used for their ability to de-escalate a situation, find missing persons, locate crime scene evidence, handler protection, locate bombs, accelerants, hard drives and narcotics, and their sense of smell.
The Purpose
We began the Police K-9 Program in 2017 after Wethersfield Police K-9 Officer Thor was killed in the line of duty. Since then, we have made it our mission to donate Police K-9s to law enforcement agencies at no cost to the department. We understand placing a K-9 with a handler is a complex process so each step is carefully navigated to ensure it is a seamless transition.
Our team works directly with law enforcement agencies to determine the agency’s needs and how we can best assist them. Constant communication and relationship building with agencies is our main goal and is the key to our success. The Hometown Foundation, Inc. sets up fundraisers, restaurant nights, in-school events, and retailer-based programs to raise funds.
The Process
Since inception, we have donated single and dual purpose K-9s to law enforcement agencies around the country. The Hometown Foundation partners with highly knowledgeable trainers, breeders, and vendors to deliver the most elite K-9s, training, and equipment. Our donated Police K-9s receive individualized basic training prior to donation to ensure they are fit to serve in the line of duty. One of the common ways a K-9 can be injured or killed in the line of duty stems from poor training; therefore, our Police K-9 donation recipients are required to compete in our Dream Ride Police K-9 Challenge held every August in Farmington, CT. A Police K-9 Challenge allows independent judges to evaluate the K-9s’ performance based on obstacles, obedience, apprehension, and scent work. These drills and scenarios represent the obstacles K-9s frequently face when doing actual police work.
The Foundation carefully monitors the results of the Challenges to certify that our K-9s are safe and ready to perform police work. Since the launch of our Police K-9 program, we have donated thousands of dollars in K-9 training and equipment. We continue to raise money and donate Police K-9s yearly on a case by case basis.
