About K9 Strong, Inc.

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     K9 Strong, Inc. was founded after the line of duty death of Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office K9 Cigo on Christmas Eve 2018. On this fateful evening, Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office deputies had tracked a suspect from an earlier shooting to The Mall at Wellington Green, and formulated a plan to apprehend him safely in the parking lot outside of the food court. When the suspect exited the mall, he was apprehended without incident; unbeknownst to deputies, he was accompanied by another individual who immediately fled. K9 Cigo was deployed to perform an apprehension bite, at which time the suspect (later identified as an active member of a criminal gang) drew a concealed handgun and began firing at Cigo and the deputies. In spite of being struck by gunfire, K9 Cigo successfully apprehended this violent offender, laying down his life for his fellow deputies. K9 Cigo was immediately rushed to a local veterinary hospital (where our CEO, Jenna, had previously been employed), but he was too gravely wounded and succumbed to his injuries. 

     The founding members of our organization attended K9 Cigo's funeral. The Florida turnpike turned into a motorcade as it filled with K9 patrol vehicles from many jurisdictions on our drive down. K9 Cigo was sent off with full law enforcement honors to include a 21-gun salute; an amphitheater that usually hosts major touring musicians was packed with both law enforcement and civilians who traveled from all over to celebrate this fallen hero. Most touching of all was the chorus of law enforcement K9s from agencies far and wide that filled the lawn seating area, whose howls served as a haunting lament for their fallen comrade as each round of gunfire rung out. Their gut-wrenching cries ensured that not a single dry eye remained in the crowd.

     K9 Cigo was a true hero, and in his sacrifice we found inspiration. Our CEO, Jenna, returned from work one evening after the funeral with a simple question: did our local law enforcement agencies have ballistic vests for their K9s, and if not, how could we provide them? That led us to hosting our inaugural fundraiser at Powerhouse Gym in Stuart, FL in February of 2019. We initially hoped to provide vests for all the K9s at one local agency, but by the end of the event we realized we had massively exceeded our goal! We sought out other agencies in need, and the funds raised at this inaugural event ultimately led to six law enforcement agencies in South Florida receiving ballistic vests for all of their patrol K9s. This initial success led us to the realization that our community had a passion for the K9s, so we pressed onward and achieved our 501c3 nonprofit status in November 2019.