Nearly 30 years ago while on a police ride-along, Elgin resident Alice Taylor saw a police dog shot and wounded after it entered a building to search for a suspect.
The memory of the day has stayed with Taylor, an administrative assistant in the emergency department at Sherman Hospital in Elgin, and that’s why she shelled out $825 of her own money to try to keep another police dog from meeting the same fate.
Taylor purchased the dog body armor that was presented last week to Gage, who is being trained to join the Elgin Police Department’s canine team. Gage is a drahthaar, a breed of German pointer. The vest is knifeproof and bulletproof.
Taylor said Gage seemed happy with his new equipment.
“The dog behaved very well. The vest fit,” she said. “And I got a lot of kisses from him.”
Taylor plans to raise money to purchase other police-dog vests.
“They are out there doing their job just like the officers are,” she said.
