One person can make a difference

Kristi Schiller is the founder of K9s4COPS, an organization formed to address the need for funding the purchase of K9s for law enforcement agencies.
I spoke with Kristi about what inspired her to start this group and how you can offer your own support.
Who inspired you to start K9s4COPS?
It’s funny how fate has a way of changing your path in life.
I was already serving on many charitable boards when I caught, literally out of the corner of my eye, a news story on the loss of a K9 while I was walking through a room. Anyone who has been around me for any time at all knows that I’m a consummate animal lover, and this story touched me instantly.
Harris County Constable’s Office Precinct 4 Deputy Ted Dahlin, who now serves on the executive board for K9s4COPS, had lost his partner, K9 Blek, while attempting to subdue a robbery suspect in late December 2009.
Ted honestly felt that Blek saved his life that day. I was just devastated for him. I immediately knew I had to do something. Initially, I just wanted to give him a K9, but the red tape was mind-boggling. As I researched more, I learned the valuable role K9s play in law enforcement.
Unfortunately, that type of asset doesn’t come cheap, and it wasn’t just Harris County that was struggling financially to obtain these dogs; it was a nationwide problem. In June 2010, I established K9s4COPS. I’m proud to say that K9s4COPS has helped make sure that Blek’s legacy of service lives on through the more than 60 K9s our foundation has donated.
Who influenced you the most with development of your community involvement?
Community involvement was instilled at a very early age by my parents, ‘If you have … then you DO.’
I was raised to see a broader side of charity than most. My parents taught me that we exist temporarily through what we take, but we live forever through what we give. It wasn’t about someone having less; it was about simply helping where needed. You helped anyway you could, whether it be with knowledge, sweat equity or monetary involvement.
What can Houstonians do to help make a difference with your organization?
The average cost of a K9 is between $10,000 and $15,000, and we always have hundreds more applicants than we can grant.
It’s cliché, but every dollar counts. It doesn’t matter if you can give $1 or $10,000. It all adds up in the end. K9s4COPS also offers people and corporations an avenue to show their unbridled support of law enforcement. It’s a trusted way for individuals, corporations, professional athletes and foundations to foster a relationship with the officers who keep our community a safer place.
What kind of response have you had to the recent article about K9s4COPs in People Magazine?
The response has been nothing short of overwhelming. Not only in terms of donated dollars, but the awareness is beyond belief. The great thing about technology is we’re able to measure our website hits and social media traffic. We’re happy to say our traffic spikes with every national exposure, so we’re always looking for ways to garner more media attention.
The great thing about media is it just takes one big story to breed more. Since our feature in People, we’ve been featured on “NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams” and with a re-air on the weekend edition of “Today.”
Awareness is so important because that’s the source of donations. It’s not just a police dog; it’s a K9, a weapon in its own right that will take down a suspect one minute and then beg for a belly rub the next. People learn these are amazing animals that provide invaluable service in the defense and protection of our communities and schools.
Would you share with us the long-term goals or the vision you have for K9s4COPs?
First and foremost, I would love to see the number of applicants for donated K9s decrease because we’ve been able to fulfill most of them. We receive hundreds of worthy applications, but only have the funds for a tenth of the K9s needed. Making those decisions is painful because you know that every last one of those K9s is needed.
We know when we grant a K9, the odds of keeping a community and its patrol officers safe increases exponentially.
Part of our mission at K9s4COPs is raising awareness, educating the public to the value of a K9 and how K9s4COPs benefits law enforcement by granting these dogs. The more that people understand their value, the more likely they are to aid in their procurement. As I’ve stated before, K9s4COPs is a great way for individuals to show their appreciation for the law enforcement community on a grand scale.
I’d also love to see more K9s protecting our schools. In the fall of 2013, we launched our K9s4KIDs initiative, and we’ve donated our first three dogs to school campus police. While Blek’s death and the bond with his partner struck a chord with the animal lover in me, the Sandy Hook Elementary Shooting hit way too close to home for me.
My daughter Sinclair was in her own first grade class when the tragedy occurred. Having watched our own personal protection K9s interact with groups of children, I knew that K9s on campus would be a kinder, gentler alterative to guns in schools or bullet proof backpacks. K9s can signal when someone’s entering campus with firearms, or heaven forbid, explosives, in their backpacks, and buy an extra 45 seconds for children to seek safety. ●
To learn more about K9s4COPS, visit www.k9s4cops.org.