5 Dayton K-9 officers now have ballistic vests

Five Dayton police K-9 officers were working the streets without the safety of a ballistic vest.

But now that’s changed.

The dogs were presented with the vests Sunday in Beavercreek by the ninth chapter of the Women of the Moose.

“It’s always nice to know that when you have a police officer and it’s your son, that someone has his back,” said Gill Close, a donor. “And in this case, it’s a four-legger — four-legged animal Zita — and she deserves to be protected.”

The vests, which cost $580 apiece, will protect the officers from bullets and knives.