MARTINS FERRY –

A legendary Pittsburgh Steeler is helping K-9 officers in the Ohio Valley.

On Wednesday, the Ben Roethlisberger Foundation sent a check for $9,500 to the Martins Ferry Police Department to help outfit their K9 with everything a crime-fighting dog needs.

It costs a lot to maintain Martins Ferry’s K9 officer “Echo” a Belgian Malinois, as Echo’s food alone costs over $1,000 a year.

Ordinarily, the grant is for a police department to get a dog, but this department already has one. Echo is especially valuable because he is cross-trained, and performs suspect apprehension, drug detection and tracking.

One of the first things the police department says they will do with the money is to insure Echo.

Source: http://www.wtrf.com/story/25148805/a-pittsburgh-steeler-helps-to-keep-local-k9s-safe-on-duty