Girl, 12, raises money for Garden Grove police K-9's protective vest

GARDEN GROVE, Calif. (KABC) -- Strauss, a police K-9, was the only member of the Garden Grove Police Department that didn't have a protective vest. That changed on Tuesday after Girl Scout Veronica Gomez raised the funds needed to buy it.

Gomez, 12, put donation jars in different restaurants and veterinarian clinics in the city as part of her Girl Scout community service project. It took her a couple of months to raise the money for the vest.

"About a year ago, I was watching TV with my family and I saw a story about a girl who raised money to get her local police dog a vest, and that got me thinking why I shouldn't get one for my local police dog," said Gomez.

Officer Omar Perez with the Garden Grove Police Department says the vest will protect Strauss' vital organs.

"These dangerous situations, a lot of times we don't know if these suspects are armed or unarmed. At least the dog has some kind of protection from whatever it may be -- a knife or a gunshot. That vest he has now is stab resistant and bullet resistant," said Perez.

Gomez has a family connection to the department. Her older sister, Officer Vanessa Brodeur, became a Garden Grove police officer in January.

"I told her, you know, 'Maybe at my graduation you could find out.' She just took the initiative and walked right up to the chief to find out if the K-9 had a vest," said Brodeur.

The cost of the vest is $900. Gomez raised just over $2,000. The rest of the money will be used to buy a bite suit.

"During the K-9 training, it's a protective suit that an officer or a trainer who acts as an agitator wears and it protects the agitator, obviously, from dog bite," said Police Chief Kevin Raney.