Foster Puppies Named in Honor of Fallen Police Officers Are Finding Homes With Their Namesakes' Families
Tracy McEnamy has been naming foster pups after fallen police officers.
— -- What started off as a tribute to recently fallen police officers has begun to shift into a gesture that may ease the pain of loss for officers' loved ones.
Tracy McEnamy is a foster parent for dogs rescued by the organization Operation Paws for Home. She is also the wife of a Maryland police officer, so a recent spate of cop deaths in the region has understandably hit her close to home.
McEnamy told ABC News that when one of her foster dogs gave birth to a litter of ten puppies earlier this month, she decided combine her passion with her husband’s, naming each puppy in the brood after a cop who had been killed in the line of duty.
She began the naming process with five officers killed in Maryland and Virginia over the last few months.
After hearing about the touching gesture, some of the families of the fallen officers have reached out to adopt the puppy named after their loved one.
McEnamy says that the aunt of Prince William County Officer Ashley Guindon, who was shot and killed while during her first shift last month, is well into the process of adopting the puppy named Guindon. The aunt of Montgomery County Officer Noah Leotta, who was struck and killed by an allegedly drunk driver in December, also applied and has been approved to adopt the puppy that bears her nephew’s name.
McEnamy says that she has also been asked to reserve the puppy named Colson for the parents of Jacai Colson, an officer from Prince George’s County who was killed by friendly fire a few weeks ago as a gunman fired at his police station.
The support for McEnamy’s litter has been thorough. Those who can’t adopt the puppies have reached out to the organization to cover the adoption fees, McEnamy says —- which is no small feat at around $300 per dog.
The last step in the adoption process is when McEnamy does personal interviews with applicants, but this litter in particular is much more personal to her.
“Talking to these families is extremely touching and emotional and it’s bringing healing to the families and even my husband and I,” she said. “We’re honored to be a part of the process and of these stories.”
Operation Paws for Home had planned on putting the rest of the litter up for adoption to the public in the next few days, but McEnamy says that they may wait to see if any other family members or colleagues of the fallen officers reach out to adopt a dog.
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