Crime & Safety

Holiday Collection for Four-Legged Military Workers and Their Handlers

Many drives focus on military personnel, but this one adds in the working military dog.

Animal Control Officer Mark Rudewicz cares deeply about animals. That is why during the recent storm and power outage he manned a pet shelter in the basement of Simsbury High School. It was the first time the town offered such a service and there were around 70 animals at one point residing there — from dogs to birds and ferrets.

So it makes sense that Rudewicz started an annual collection of needed items for military dogs and their handlers at for the holiday. This is the second year of the event.

“Rather than just send it to the soldier we send it to one of the canine handlers and the canine,” he said.

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A collection box has been placed in the police department near the dispatch center.

This is something Rudewicz is doing from scratch. He is not collecting items that will then be sent through another organization. He collects, packs, and will most likely drive to Massachusetts to Westover Air Reserve Base to ship the items.

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Rudewicz gets 10 to 15 names (and where they are based) from the military that are in the forward areas of Afghanistan. He said after the last drive they received many thank you notes.

Recently someone came in to the department with a retired German shepherd military dog. The dogs are trained for all sorts of work, but primarily sniffing out improvised explosive devices (or IEDs). 

“A lot of law enforcement are ex-military,” said Rudewicz.

Retired dogs, many of which are being diagnosed with the same Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder that other solders are coming home with, come back through Lackland Air Force Base in Texas and are transitioned through a program and then adopted, if the handler for some reason cannot keep the dog. Most handlers keep their dogs, said Rudewicz.

There is a Military Working Dog Foundation that will help adopt dogs out to families. (Go here for more info on that and anything else about military dogs — http://www.uswardogs.org/index.html.)

The local drive started a couple weeks ago and will end the third week of this month. The items are usually shipped in time for the holiday.

“These folks are always appreciative to get anything any time of year,” said Rudewicz.

He said last year the police department and town hall employees really came through for the collection and this year he decided to open it up to the community.

“Here and town hall employees did an outstanding job,” he said.

The list of items to donate (complete lists are attached as PDF files to be viewed or printed out) include things like small boxes of dog biscuits, towels to wipe paws, K9 toothpaste and brushes, large rope chews, collapsible nylon dog bowls and cooling collars, vests and mats for the summer months and warming mats for the winter months.

For the handlers, there are items such as coffee, tuna, microwave popcorn, peanut butter and jelly, board games, duct tape, razors, toothpaste, deodorant, dental floss, lip balm, cough drops, nail clippers, hand sanitizer, baby powder and more.

There are also items specifically for females, such as feminine hygiene products, nail polish, and hair spray.

Everything is needed from power bars to moisturizing eye drops to playing cards and DVDs, he said. And the dogs can also be sent other items such as Nylabone chews and toys and grooming supplies.

While these dogs are working, Rudewicz wants to take care of them as much as he does the handlers and other soldiers.

“They’re the ones that do the ground work, leading the Humvees, doing the sweeps with the handler. There’s an animal component in the military that’s protecting our freedom,” he said.


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