The Henry County Sheriff’s Office provides educational activities in the public school system and for young people all across the county. Many of the activities are offered around holidays and during the summer break. The goal is for young people to have fun while being taught how to make better life choices and to be more at ease around law enforcement personnel. It is unexpected that a young person is reaching out to help the Sheriff’s Office.
On August 9 Sergeant Jodey Powell, head of the Sheriff’s Office K-9 unit received an email from Kellie Hand requesting a K-9 Demo. She explained that her daughter Nicole created a theme for her 11th birthday party to raise money to help buy law enforcement K-9 equipment.
Nicole, a 5th grade student at Rock Springs Elementary, had become acquainted with officers and K-9s from the Alpharetta Police Department through her mother’s work. She bonded with the dogs and became friends with their handlers through frequent visits. Nicole learned about the different duties for which K-9s are trained. She realized that many of these duties are difficult and dangerous. With that understanding she spoke with her family about helping these dogs.
“I love K-9s and really want to protect our protectors,” Nicole told senior staff at the Sheriff’s Office. Her original goal was to raise money to purchase ballistic vests but after speaking with Sergeant Powell, she realized that the ways to help K-9s vary based on their duties. As a result, Nicole raised over $300 to buy NARCAN to counteract the effects of opioid narcotics for the Henry County Sheriff’s Office and Police Department drug dogs.
A drug dog’s duties require constant sniffing for narcotics which makes them susceptible to a drug overdose. NARCAN is used to counteract the dangerous effects of an opioid overdose. K-9s are given the same medicine as humans in doses based on their weight.
The Hand family has helped Nicole establish a Go Fund Me page called “Keeping K9’s Safe” at www.gofundme.com/keeping- k9039s-safe for anyone who would like to help Nicole meet her goal of raising $1,000 to protect the protectors.
