ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – Those who love dogs and love to run are helping a local charity that advocates for K-9 officers.
The annual 9-K for K-9s happened Saturday at the World Golf Hall of Fame in St. Augustine.
K-9s United is the organization that puts on a fundraiser every year to assist law enforcement in northeast Florida.
K9 Huk, a Longtime K9 with the Jacksonville sheriff’s office, had to retire just last month after being shot in the line of duty. Huk gets a lot of love, affection, and appreciation. Huk was honored for his bravery at the event. Huk and his handler Cheth Plaugher worked together since 2017.
“He is so friendly. He has that on-and-off switch that you hear a lot about when you have working dogs,” Plaugher said.
Last summer, Huk was shot three times in the line of Duty while chasing down at least one armed suspect. There were seevral surgeries and a grueling recovery that resulted in him having to get a leg amputated and forcing him to retire.
“You know the consequences of the job that we do, it does make it difficult. You understand that it is a risk that they take, but just trying to be grateful that he is still alive,” Plaugher said.
This race is a way for K9s United to provide law enforcement agencies with things they need that they could not get with their budgets. Debbie Johnson is the charity’s founder and president and hopes to raise $75,000.
“Huk’s sacrifice he made for the community and his service with keeping us safe is the epitome of why we do what we do,” Johnson said.
Some of those resources include first aid kits, ballistic vests, heat alarms, and advanced training seminars.
“It’s not only about taking the bad guys off the streets, but it is about taking the drugs off the streets, it is our bomb dogs that sweep the Jaguar stadium before anyone gets there. It is the tracking dogs that find missing, elderly, or missing children.
K-9s United also played big roles in getting state laws passed that allow first responders to take immediate action when a police dog is hurt in the line of duty and increase the penalty for someone who kills a police K-9.