Woman Donates Bulletproof Vests to Holmdel Police Dogs

Holmdel, NJ - Holly Sandford just wanted to sell 50 bracelets.

Sandford works as a dispatcher for the Holmdel police department, and makes jewelry as a hobby on the side. She started making and selling the customized bracelets online, with the hope that she may be able to buy one bulletproof vest for the police service dogs that make up Holmdel's K-9 unit.

Instead, she sold over 200 pieces of jewelry, and was able to donate two vests to the two dogs on the unit: K-9 Cairo's vest was already issued to him. That's him above, wearing the new vest. K-9 Patriot's vest is due to arrive by mid-September. The vests are custom-made to each German Shepherd.

“Being the daughter of a cop, I understand the true meaning of loyalty to your family," said Sandford, who is the daughter of retired Brookdale College Police Chief William Sandford. “Being a part of this department and working with the K-9 teams, I learned a lot about the unit, and how sometimes people view the canines as equipment. I also learned that much of the K-9 unit is maintained by donations."

She actually came up with the idea in memory of K-9 Diogi and K-9 Buddy, two former Holmdel Police canines that recently passed away.

“Holly's act of kindness and generosity is a great reminder of how the police and public have to work together," said Holmdel Police Chief John Mioduszewski. "Our entire department thanks her for her efforts.”