Pittsburgh Foundation Buys 13 Police Dog Vests

Thirteen Pittsburgh, Pa., police canine officers are being fitted for protective vests paid for by money raised in memory of a dog that was fatally stabbed on duty earlier this year.

The vests presented Monday were paid for by the Officer Rocco K-9 Memorial Fund at The Pittsburgh Foundation.

City police worked with Vested Interest in K9s, Inc., a nonprofit that provides vests to protect police dogs from stabbings and shootings, to obtain the vests.

The presentation coincided with the first day of trial for 22-year-old John Rush.

Allegheny County prosecutors say Rush stabbed Rocco, an 8-year-old police dog, in January as police arrested him on warrants for probation violations and failing to register as a sex offender. Two human officers were also wounded during the incident.