K-9 ARMOR


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K-9 ARMOR  history and board of directors.
Pictures of the brave and beautiful law enforcement dogs who wait for K-9 ARMOR.
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Press contact and event information
Thank you to all our Sponsors  of K-9 Armor

Memorial to the  Law enforcement dogs in CA who died in the line of duty

K-9 Armor Home

 


K-9 ARMOR profile picture of Sabre, Richmond PD K-9 Armor dog number 20, vested in 2009Smiles from Campbell Police K9 Koa. He received his K9 Armor vest in 2022K-9 Armor logo
Richmond PD K9 Sabre vested in 2009 and Campbell Police K9 Koa vested in 2022

K-9 ARMOR
77 Van Ness Ave STE 101, San Francisco, CA 94102
Contact Suzanne Saunders: 415-265-9371 or email k9armor@gmail.com

Donate here on Paypal and you can pay by credit card

 


Thank you to the vest makers who sell us our K9 Armor Bulletproof - Stabproof vests at a discount

We don't make the vest, we are the only charity to offer the Officers a choice of brands:

Donate $3,600 to give this amazing lighweight, bulletproof P7K9 vest made by Project 7 from Aardvark Tactical in La Verne, California

P7K9 vest by Project 7 available exclusively through Aardvark TacticalK9 Armor P7K9 vest on K9
Pictured above, the P7K9 vest with removable yoke for extra protection around the neck
Thanks to Aardvark Tactical starting in 2025 we are honored they gave us this generous charity discount off retail $3,800
Made of NIJ-certified material worn by human SWAT teams who requested this brand by name for their K9 Heroes


Donate $1,900 to give a lightweight vest called Paladin ... HAVE VEST, WILL TRAVEL

Thanks to Survival Armor, we joined forces in 2025 to offer this beautiful, lightweight K9 Armor vest made of NIJ-certified armor for human Officers but made for four legs. Made in the USA to our specifications, based on feedback for 20 years from handlers, using a lightweight material for a custom-made, bulletproof - spikeproof K9 Armor vest. Stay tuned for pictures of a California K9 Hero wearing the armor you sponsor when we give our first Paladin vest!


We partnered with the K9 Tactical Gear family in 2019 to offer their awesome Kevlar® vest made in Rocklin, California for $1,900

Thank you Susan and Bill Forbes, Owners of K9 Tactical Gear for giving us a great discount to help us give the most vests. Their amazing design of Spike Level 2 and Bulletproof Level 2 panels gives the most protection of any K9 vest at Level 4 and with custom mesh inside for a breathable fabric allows the K9 to wear for long periods. Made of Kevlar® our K-9 Armor vests are made to NIJ (National Institute of Justice) standard for police officers, fitted to each dog including patches for their department. They lowered the price from retail $2000 to $1600 (plus tax and delivery comes to $1900) and includes a spreader hook for lowering from a helicopter.

Smiles from K9 Tactical Susan Forbes and K9 Yeti and Suzanne, K9Armor.com
Smiles from K9 Tactical Gear owner Susan Forbes and K9 Yeti and Suzanne Saunders, cofounder K9Armor.com


Since 2024 K-9 ARMOR is proud to offer the K9 Storm Patrol Swat Vest for $3,600

The K9 Storm bulletproof vest that April 17, 2024, saved the life of LA County Sheriff K9 Kjeld (pronounced Kid)

K-9 ARMOR is proud to offer the K9 Storm Patrol Swat Vest. This is the vest that took a bullet and saved the life of LA Sheriff K9 Kjeld (Kid)

Vests to Los Angeles County K9 Heroes given in honor of LA Sheriff K9 Jack shot and killed EOW 12-22-22
In honor of LA Sheriff K9 Jack shot and killed 12-22-22

Officer Jim Slater in Winnipeg, Canada, has made his custom-fit, featherweight bulletproof vest since 1996. It started when his own K9 had to go into battle with no armor, and when he invented this special material, other handlers began to request a vest for their K9 partners. Then it happened, April 17, 2024, the night LA Sheriff K9 Kjeld (Kid) was shot and his K9 Storm Patrol SWAT vest took the bullet and saved his life with no injury to the K9!

That was all the proof we needed for our board of directors to approve offering this vest as a supplement to the heavyweight vest. The K9 Storm wonderful family gave us a charity discount off the retail $3,863.

K9s are stabbed and shot and hurt and killed when they have no armor.

Your donation solves that problem, so they stay protected all day with a lightweight vest to protect against ambush, and their heavyweight K9 Tactical Gear vest to wear going into battle.

 

 

K-9 Armor promises 100 percent of your tax-deductible donations go only to bulletproof K9 Armor vests for police dogs, no other purpose.

We receive no benefit and make no profit in protecting every law enforcement dog in California. Those who make a profit from K9's include the sale of the police dog at $10,000, to training the police dog another $10,000, to specially-cooled vehicles over $10,000, medical care and food and supplies. Most K9 support organizations can only provide equipment to dogs in their K9 Associations and they cover medical but they don't provide vests. We thank many of the K9 Associations on our Sponsors page who brought angel sponsors to us, so we could protect their K9 Heroes.

K-9 Armor gives vests that meet the NIJ (National Institute of Justice) Standard for human ballistic vests. This is the same standard as their handler as mandated by the Agency that oversees the standard for all law enforcement in the United States.

K-9 Armor vests protect all the vital organs. Watch out for brands that sacrifice coverage to cut cost and weight but expose the body.

All brands of vest we offer are custom fit to each K9 for maximum comfort and mobility. We have measured 200 K9 Heroes and make sure each vest is a perfect fit.

Our Articles of Incorporation, allow you to sponsor a particular police dog for the cost of a whole vest to protect the police dog of your choice. Donations are applied to every law enforcement dog in California without preference. We love them all and when you support K-9 Armor by sponsoring a vest, we add a thank you on our Sponsors page and picture of the beautiful K9 Hero you just protected.

K-9 ARMOR® is the only charity with a registered Trademark for the service of fundraising to give protective vests to police dogs.

We are approved by the California Office of the Attorney General which is required to fundraise in California: Click below to check the California OAG Charity Registry enter K-9 ARMOR for Organization and see our status as Current and State as California.

 

Click here to see CA Attorney General Registry
search for K-9 Armor in Corporations

 

How to know if a Charity if legitimate? Check the Registry above on the California Attorney General site, search for K-9 Armor in Name of Organization

This verifies our taxes are filed every year with the IRS and with the State of California and that we were incorporated on 07-08-09 (July 8, 2009).

K-9 Armor is the official, California registered tax-deductible, non-profit public benefit charity approved by the California Secretary of State and Attorney General's Office, the Dept. of Justice, the CA Franchise Tax Board and Federal IRS 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status, for the purpose of raising public funds to supply bulletproof K-9 Armor vests to the brave, beautiful police dogs of California.

K-9 Armor accepts donations from the public to protect California law enforcement dogs. Every vest is free to any California law enforcement dog. Most police departments and law enforcement agencies do not budget for bulletproof vests for their K-9's. Every two-legged Officer and member of law enforcement who carries a gun, receives a bulletproof vest and we believe their four-legged partners deserve the same protection. These brave, beautiful dogs risk their lives to protect us, help us protect them with your tax-deductible donations.

K-9 Armor started in September 2003 partnering with the Marin County Sheriff's Office until 2009 when we ended our partnership, and with their encouragement and guidance, obtained the honorable status of State Charity.

July 8, 2009 (7/8/9), we obtained the 501(c)(3) status as a Non Profit Public Benefit Charity for the State of California, protecting California Law Enforcement Canines with Bulletproof K9 Vests, relying on donations to K-9 Armor.

K-9 Armor stands alone, as the sole Non Profit Public Benefit Charity that donates 100 percent of our time and funds only to bulletproof vests for every law enforcement dog in California. The IRS explains it, they don't like to approve multiple charities in the same place raising money for the same thing. One of the questions on their Application wants to know if there is a Charity already performing the work you propose, why exactly can't you work with the existing organization instead of taking funds away from those who depend on Charity?

The current K-9 Armor Board of Directors

K-9 Armor President, ATF Explosives Detection K9 Handler and Marin County Sheriff Deputy Daniel Marrett (ret)

Deputy Marrett and Verona, Federal ATF amd Marin County Sheriff K-9 Team K-9 Armor President Deputy Daniel Marrett is a retired Federal ATF (Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms) Explosives Detection and Marin County Sheriff K-9 Handler, with over 30 years of experience. His K9 Verona received the first K-9 Armor vest in 2004
K-9 Armor President Deputy Daniel Marrett is a retired Federal ATF (Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms) Explosives Detection K9 Handler and Marin County Sheriff K-9 Handler, with over 30 years of experience including leading the Sheriff's Gang Task Force. His K9 Verona received the first K-9 Armor vest in 2004 and he became our president in 2009 when we had five years of tax returns to become a 501(c)(3) public benefit charity. His leadership has protected over 150 California K9 Heroes.

K9 Armor Vice President, Riverside County Sheriff Sergeant Jeff Hurd

Riverside Sheriff K9 Assoc Pres and K9 Armor VP Corporal Jeff Hurd and K9 Yanik on K9 Cop cover
K-9 Armor Vice President, Riverside County Sheriff Sgt. Jeffrey Hurd, former RSO K9 Association President and current Judge for the RSO and Las Vegas Metro PD national K9 Trials. Jeff worked with his former partner K9 Baron from 2009 before patrolling the City of San Jacinto with his partner K9 Yanik to 2021. After years of inviting us to their K9 Trials since 2014, we are honored Jeff accepted the role as Vice President of K-9 Armor in 2019 and we are honored for his support in protecting the brave Riverside K9 Heroes in loving memory of San Jacinto PD K9 Sultan, killed in action 01-21-2015. Read about Sultan's sacrifice on our Memorials Page.

K-9 Armor Cofounder, Secretary, Treasurer and Webdiva, Suzanne Saunders

Suzanne Saunders at California Animal Emergency Response System training at UC Davis Memorial to fallen K-9 police dogs.
K-9 Armor Cofounder, Secretary, Treasurer and Webdiva, Suzanne Saunders, has served as a volunteer EMT (Emergency Medical Technician) with the Medical Reserve Corps and Hands-Only CPR Instructor since 2007. Suzanne is the only full-time member of the board, dedicated to K-9 Armor. 20 years of experience as IT Specialist at ComputerLand, Autodesk and Wells Fargo Bank, she brings project management, web design, internet security and service delivery manager skills to managing our web site, donations, and sponsor relationships. A California native, she loves police dogs and is devoted to protecting the K9 Heroes who protect us. Suzanne is our web site administrator for K9Armor.com and Facebook admin www.facebook.com/k9armor and Instagram, www.instagram.com/k9armor. Suzanne is also Treasurer and submits the tax returns every year to the California Secretary of State, Office of Attorney General and Francise Tax Board and the IRS. Contact Suzanne on Suzanne's personal facebook page or on LinkedIn. You can also send her an email to k9armor@gmail.com and text or call her at (415) 265-9371.

K-9 Armor Board Member Anaheim PD Officer Brett Klevos

Anaheim PD Officer Brett Klevos, OCPCA President and K9 Armor board member with K9 Kylo wearing his K9 Armor vest giving hugs to Suzanne Saunders
K-9 Armor Board Member Anaheim PD Officer Brett Klevos, former President of the Orange County Police Canine Association. Brett is an Anaheim Police Officer with his partner K9 Odin who received his K9 Tactical Gear vest in 2024. We had the honor of protecting his former partner Leo who received his K-9 Armor vest in 2018. Brett is responsible for six Anaheim PD K9 Heroes and is currently Director of OCPCA, overseeing 60 police dogs and Military Working Dogs in Orange County. Brett accepted a position on the K-9 Armor board in 2019, after inviting us to their K9 Benefit Show since 2011. Pictured above Officer Brett Klevos with Anaheim PD K9 Kylo doing a demo for kids at Anaheim Albert Schweitzer Elementary who raised funds to give 2 K9 Armor vests.

All donations are 100 percent directed toward purchase of K-9 Armor vests.

Thanks also to Deputy Karen Wofford (ret) for helping direct our web site format and providing a link from the Marin County Deputy Sheriff's Association web site and helping direct us how to acheive our own 501(c)(3) for our tax-deductible status.

Click for big picture K9 Armor Co-Founders Sgt Mike Crain, Suzanne Saunders and Deputy Evan Hughes
Original Co-Founders, Marin County Sheriff Sgt Mike Crain (ret) and Suzanne Saunders, EMT with instructor for DARE to all the Marin County School kids, Deputy Evan Hughes, seen here in 2004 at the Marin County Fair.


 

Our costs include the vest plus sales tax and if donated online includes the 2.5% Paypal fee. All vests are custom made, measured in person. Cost includes shipping approx $25 and delivery $150, most vests are delivered in person as we cover the whole state. We list the dates each vest was delivered on our Sponsors page to show your donations are dedicated to each vest. We receive a charity discount off the retail price by both Tactical Gear in Rocklin, CA and K9 Storm in Winnipeg, Canada and Aardvark Tactical in La Verne, CA and Survival Armor in Florida for an incredible cost below retail, because they believe in our cause. We are the only public benefit charity dedicated only to providing free bulletproof vests without any exclusions, to all law enforcement dogs for all of California and 100 percent of the cost is covered by public donations.

Protect those who lay down their lives to protect us

K-9 ARMOR
77 Van Ness Ave STE 101, San Francisco, CA 94102

For information, send email to
k9armor@gmail.com

 

Contact Suzanne Saunders: 415-265-9371



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