Butler police officer Brian Grooms puts a new protective vest on Gunner, one of the city's two police dogs, at the station Friday in Butler. The vest is bullet proof and stab resistant.

Two Butler County families donated funding for protective K9 vests for the city's police dogs.

The families of Dennis Kerr of Center Township and John Myers of Karns City donated the $1,300 vests to keep the city's dogs, Gunner and Blade, safe.

“We're animal lovers and we didn't want to see anything bad happen to the dogs in the city,” Kerr said.

The idea for the vests, which are bullet proof and stab resistant, came following the January death of Rocco, a K9 officer with the Pittsburgh City Police.

“We know the dogs here in the city can get into some tough positions,” Myers said.

City Police Chief Ron Brown said the entire department was grateful for the gift from the families.

“This was all thought up and funded by them,” he said of the Kerr and Myers families. “It's great to see people showing pride in the community.”