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Girl starts project to help buy vests for Benton police dogs |
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Monday, 07 July 2008 |
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A Benton girl wants to help protect the dogs that serve the citizens of Benton. 
Baley Shell, 7, is gathering cans and any other type of aluminum to raise money for the Benton police dogs. The recycled goods are being turned into Shaw Recycling and the funds are being collected to buy K-9s Rudy and Lucky reflective and cooling vests.
The endeavor originally started out as a Brownie project, but after learning that Baley couldn’t earn a badge for raising money for another organization, she decided to continue her quest anyway, her mother, Dawn Shell, said.
The fact that Baley’s father is Bobby Shell, code enforcement officer with the Benton Police Department, may have had something to do with her desire to help the police dogs. But Baley said she’s simply doing it because “I like puppies and want them to be comfortable when they work.”
Officer Jeff Parsons, who keeps Rudy, said the dogs get exhausted this time of year when they’re training and working. The cooling vests would help alleviate some of the heat-related fatigue, he said.
It costs more than $350 for the vests, police said.
Baley receives 75 cents per pound of aluminum that she recycles.
“Help me help them,” she said outside the police department last week playing with Rudy.
Baley will be a second-grader this upcoming school year at Howard-Perrin Elementary School. She enjoys time spent in the library, and in music and art classes. Asked if she’d like to follow in her father’s footsteps and become a police officer, she said she’s planing to stay on the citizen side of life and become a teacher.
Sgt. Kevin Russell, spokesman for the police department, encouraged people to help Baley with her endeavor. “This is a worthwhile cause,” he said.
To donate, call 776-5965 or e-mail
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