Brady Snakovsky’s story began in 2017 when he was watching an episode of Live PD with his mom, Lena Tornabene. Just 8 years old at the time, he noticed something that bothered him – one of the K9 units wasn’t wearing a bulletproof vest.
He asked his mom to help him buy a vest for a local K-9 in need, only to find out that they cost about $1,200 apiece.
Nevertheless, his mom was very supportive of his endeavor:
“We were watching the show together and I didn’t even notice that the dog wasn’t wearing a vest,” she told CNN. “I was quite surprised that a child at age eight could recognize that there was an issue there, and that he could find a solution to fix that problem. It made me very proud to see him doing this.”
Brady didn’t let the cost of the vests stop him – in fact, he set a loftier goal. He wanted to donate nine K9 vests in honor of his 9th birthday.
“I want them to stay safe from bad people,” the generous kiddo told WKYC News.
Brady’s stepdad is a police officer and he wants to be one as well when he grows up as well.
“Brady has loved the police since age 2. He constantly dressed up as an officer and would get very excited when he would see them on the road. Brady enjoyed watching the show Live PD and that is when he found out that Police K9 officers are not automatically issued to them. He didn’t like that at all. He feels that the Police K9’s should have protection just like their human partners.,” his mom told Bored Panda.
Many people don’t realize that while police offices have access to myriad equipment, K9 units often have to rely on donations for their vests.
That makes every dollar Brady raises is a meaningful one.
And Brady has fundraised A LOT of dollars for the dogs he respects so much.
He’s even topped $101,000 recently of his $110k goal on GoFundMe!
Not only that, but the Strongsville, Ohio boy has encouraged more fundraising through his “Brady’s K9 Fund” charity, making his total amount raised closer to $315,000.
So far Brady has supplied 264 dogs with vests around the country – protection they would not normally have had without this now-10-year-old’s efforts.
Incredible!
Brady’s vests are also top of the line.
According to the Facebook page of his new official non-profit organization:
“Brady feels all K9 Officers should be protected by a ballistic/stab proof vest… Brady donates the Street Fighter vest made by Line Of Fire Defence (LOF). These vests are top of the line and ideal for working dogs. They allow the dog to wear their vest the entire shift and during training sessions. Each vest is custom fit for each dog. The vest protects all the crucial organs but is not big like traditional vests that may overheat the hard-working dog! Although if a handler would like a different style vest we sure will accommodate them.”
It’s hard not to agree with Brady that K9’s deserve protection, especially with the many billions of dollars that go towards former military-grade equipment for domestic officers, even in small towns.
Is $1,200 really so much to pay to protect the dogs that protect and serve us?
These seem like pretty important pieces of equipment too.
For now, donations are how it works.
So while you can do something in your own hometown, you can also hook up with Brady’s organization to donate to the fund yourself.
You can click here to make your donation.
(And Brady has donated vests to dogs in Canada as well!)
Brady’s K-9 Fund is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization and all contributions are tax-deductible.
Be sure to scroll down below to see an interview with the fundraising phenom on The Kelly Clarkson Show.
Please SHARE this with your friends and family.
