fbpx

Active and Retired Philadelphia Police K9s Receive Orthopedic Beds from Local Company 

Pet Age Staff//February 23, 2017//

Active and Retired Philadelphia Police K9s Receive Orthopedic Beds from Local Company 

Pet Age Staff //February 23, 2017//

Listen to this article

Every Philadelphia police K9, from districts across the city, will be resting comfortably after receiving a donation of orthopedic beds on Tuesday, February 21. The high quality beds, handcrafted by Philadelphia-based Big Barker, are designed to reduce the pain and soreness caused by the joint problems in large dogs and improve their quality of life as they age.

The donation ceremony, which took place in front of Philadelphia Police Headquarters, outfitted all active—and a number of retired—police K9s with luxury orthopedic bedding designed to prevent and alleviate joint pain/disease that large dogs are susceptible to.

Philadelphia Police Commissioner Richard Ross Jr. addressed media at the event, saying: “These dogs work very hard each and every day. They are unheralded heroes, and they do a fantastic job in helping us in a myriad of ways and deserve to rest comfortably after a hard day’s work.”

Police dogs have great physical demands put on them during regular training and day-to-day police work. Large breed working dogs such as German shepherds and Belgian malinois can suffer from painful joint diseases as they age, issues that the donated orthopedic beds are specifically designed to combat.

“Most large dogs will develop joint disease at some point in their lives, which will lead to pain, soreness and potentially life-shortening loss of mobility,” said Eric Shannon, founder and president of Big Barker. “We make the Big Barker to reduce the pain and soreness that the dogs are feeling and to restore mobility as much as possible to extend their quality of life as long as we can.”