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.

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

“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.”