K-9 night K-9 night (January 14, 2005)

Council commends efforts to protest its four-legged cops
by Teresa C. Brown

Looking dandy in their new protective vests, Pleasanton Police Department K-9s Robby, Pasco and Kaij and their handlers, officers Randall Paulson, Tim Martens and Dave Batoy, stopped in the City Council meeting last week.

The dogs were on hand when 10-year-old Gabriella Perko, along with Annette Langer, Elisabeth Fraser and Vivi de Villa, were recognized by the council for their fundraising efforts to buy the bullet-proof attire for the police dogs, costing about $1,300 each.

Last year, Gabriella came up with the idea to outfit the K-9s with protective vests, an idea put into action with Langer leading the effort by garnering community support.

Fraser and de Villa also assisted by raising money through their venture creating and selling a calendar featuring PeopleSoft employees and their animals.

Through their efforts, the quartet raised the money to buy vests for each police dog. There is $10,000 left over, said Police Chief Tim Neal, which is in a fund to provide protection for the dogs.

The Police Department has had K-9s since 1974, beginning with a single dog. The department now has three dogs: two patrol dogs and a bomb dog.

In other acknowledgments, the council singled out Officer Paulson for his effort attempting to save the life of a motorcyclist, who was involved in a fatal collision Aug. 26.

The motorcyclist and a Honda vehicle had collided at the intersection of Owens and Rosewood Drive. When Paulson arrived on the scene, he found the motorcyclist lying in the street, trapped under the vehicle. One of the Honda's tires was resting on the cyclist's head, which was protected by his helmet.

Paulson mobilized nearby bystanders and the group lifted the vehicle off the motorcyclist, who, although transported to a hospital, later succumbed to other injuries.

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