Officer Paul Robbins and his new K-9 partner Mack — a comfort and missing persons K-9 — pose with a specialized first-aid kit for dogs that was sent to them by a K-9 foundation, “We Ride to Provide,” whose founder Robbins and Mack met in Georgia earlier this year. (Photo Courtesy Lowell Police Department)
Lowell Police Department K9 Mack (Photo Courtesy Lowell Police Department)
From left, Lowell City Manager Eileen Donoghue and Lowell Police Department Officer Paul Robbins smile with Mack, a Lowell Police Department missing persons and comfort K-9 the City Manager named after the Merrimack River. (Photo Courtesy Lowell Police Department)

LOWELL — Superintendent Raymond Kelly Richardson is pleased to share that the Lowell Police Department’s new missing persons and comfort dog got a surprise gift in the mail. 

Late last month, Officer Paul Robbins and his K-9 partner Mack were surprised to receive a specialized first-aid kit for dogs. 

The kit was sent by a Georgia-based charity called We Ride to Provide, which honors fallen police K-9s and provides active K-9s with first aid kits via a sponsor-based program. 

An unknown donor sponsored a first-aid kit for Mack. 

“The K-9s that work with the Lowell Police Department are not just colleagues to us, they’re like family members, so we could not be more thankful that Mack now has this extra layer of security as he works alongside us,” said Superintendent Richardson. “I’d like to thank the generous anonymous donor who sponsored Mack’s first-aid kit, and to thank We Ride to Provide as well.”

Mack is a black Labrador who was assigned to Officer Robbins in May at just 8 weeks old. Mack and Officer Robbins both graduated from K-9 Tracking and Evidence School in Vermont in September, and went to work. 

Mack now serves the Lowell Police Department as both a missing persons dog and a comfort dog, helping to find those who are lost and helping to comfort those in need. Mack and Officer Robbins also make frequent appearances at schools and for community groups to perform demonstrations. 

Mack was named after the Merrimack River by City Manager Eileen Donoghue. 

Officer Robbins was partnered with another black Labrador that was trained to detect improvised explosive devices during his service with the U.S. Marine Corps, and that experience prompted him to want to work with a police K-9 as well. 

It was at a memorial service for his military K-9 in Georgia several weeks ago that he first learned about We Ride to Provide and met the organization’s founder, Holly Cripps.

The first-aid kit, sponsored by an anonymous donor, showed up just a few weeks later. Among other things, the kit includes specialized bandages for dogs, a nylon muzzle for emergencies, and items like hydrogen peroxide, toxiban and antihistamines in case a K-9 is bit by a snake or exposed to dangerous substances. 

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