From Kim Minugh:
Look out Hollywood, here comes Blitz.
The Sacramento police K9 and his human handler, Officer John Azevedo, are now being featured on major television networks in a 30-second spot advertising Eukanuba dog food.
"Like most of us on the force, I work with a partner," Azevedo says in a voiceover. Then, as the camera focuses on a very happy-looking German Shepard peeking out of a patrol car window: "This is mine, Blitz."
Azevedo goes on to say that Blitz "means the world to me, for a lot of different reasons. He's more than a partner, he's family." So, of course, he feeds him Eukanuba.
We've written about the duo once before (click here) when the K9 team was featured in print ads in publications such as Food & Wine and Runner's World magazines.
As part of that ad campaign, Eukanuba created a 3 1/2-minute online commercial featuring the team, as well as Azevedo's family. They shortened those sentiments into a 30-second commercial that began airing in September and is scheduled to continue through January, said Sacramento police K9 Sgt. Steve Oliveira.
Initially, the Sacramento Police Department received nothing but good publicity from Azevedo's participation. But after the print campaign proved a success, Eukanuba offered $40,000 in donations with the creation of the television spots. The department agreed, Oliveira said.
Half that money eventually will be spent on replacing current canines when they need to retire - purchasing worthy canines runs between $8,500 and $10,500 these days, Oliveira said. The other half will go to the Sacramento Police Canine Association, a nonprofit that helps pay medical bills and burial expenses for retired canines.
The department's relationship with Eukanuba began in 2008, when Oliveira approached the company about being a sponsor of a SPD-hosted Western States Police Canine Association competition. From there, the partnership flourished.
Azevedo and Blitz are one of the department's prized K9 teams. They were named "top competitors" in 2007 after surpassing other law enforcement agencies' K9 teams in agility, search and protection during statewide competitions. They repeated the honors in 2008, when they also were named the best overall team.
Here's the commercial:
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