Home >  Local News >  Neighborhoods

Friday, February 21, 2003

By M.J. Place

Every dog has his day, but a Wilkinsburg police dog with a back problem now has his own trust fund.

Knowing the borough didn't have the $5,000 needed for an operation, Wilkinsburg officer Tom Proctor two weeks ago made a tearful appeal for funds to pay for tests and spinal surgery on his K-9 partner Faro.

About 1,300 dog-lovers sent get-well wishes, prayer cards and Valentines to the 3-year-old canine with a dislocated vertebrae. They also sent more than $40,000 in donations.

Wilkinsburg police Chief Richard Dwyer called the response "absolutely amazing."

"We've had letters from about 20 different states," said Dwyer. "A relative of mine in Germany saw the story in a paper there and called me long-distance."

The largest single donation, $3,000, came from an individual in Moon.

Dwyer said the money is still pouring in -- more than $2,000 was received yesterday -- and all contributors will be put into a special data base and sent thank-you notes.

They'll also be assured that money sent to help an ailing police dog will do exactly that.

Dwyer is working with Wilkinsburg Mayor Wilbert Young and Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala to set up a fund that can be used by any police dog in Western Pennsylvania whose police force cannot afford medical care.

A certain amount, yet to be determined, will go to cover Faro's own medical expenses over his lifetime.

James Andreoni, professor of economics at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and a specialist in charitable giving, said he didn't think intense concern for animals meant lack of sympathy for humans.

"It's nothing I can explain but it's an interesting phenomenon," said Andreoni. "People do rise to the occasion. It's part of human nature."