Since the Emmaus Police Department’s K-9 unit was started in 1990, eight dogs have served Emmaus as canine patrol partners.

The Emmaus Lions Club has funded the acquisition and training expenses of each of those dogs as the club’s contribution to borough public safety, spokesperson Don Hoffman said, a past president of the group.

“In conversations between Lions Club leaders and police officials about how the Lions could contribute to police efforts to combat problems related to drug addiction and drug trafficking at that time,” Hoffman said, “the value of a K-9 unit entered the conversation. The question of how such a unit could be funded came up and the leadership of the Lions Club decided to take on that commitment.”

Through the last three decades the service club has worked various fundraisers to accumulate the thousands of dollars needed as older dogs aged out of service and new dogs were needed to succeed them.

A K-9’s life expectancy and retirement age cannot be accurately predicted. Police dog life span expectancy, or longevity, is defined as the expected number of working years in a K-9 unit and several factors affect how long a police dog unit works and lives, and when they retire, including dog breed, health status and job dangers, among others.

Particularly tough on the joints of a police canine is the constant jumping into and out of a K-9 patrol vehicle. The canine equivalent of human arthritis is one of the leading determinants of a K-9 dog’s service life.

Acquisition and training costs for Leo, the police department’s latest canine officer, amounted to more than $16,000. A check for $16,250 was presented to the police department at a borough council meeting Sept. 5.

The Emmaus Lions Club has used a number of fundraising efforts to accumulate the money needed as each dog needs to be replaced. Among those efforts have been golf tournaments and night-at-the races events, as well as clam chowder sales and twice-monthly hoagie sales.

This year the club will add a spaghetti dinner to its funding efforts. The dinner will be held Oct. 28 at Emmaus Fire Co. No. 1, 50 S. Sixth St., Emmaus.

“If the spaghetti dinner is a success, we’ll add that to our fundraising efforts,” Hoffman said.

“While raising funds to support our commitments takes a lot of member time and effort, our commitment to serving our community is our basic value,” Hoffman said.