A group of people are doing everything they can to keep Miami Beach Police's K-9 officers on the streets.
Budget cuts are making it difficult to keep the program going but the Miami Beach K-9 Knights are helping raise money for the crime-fighting dogs.
Dogs have one thing humans don't: a tremendous sense of smell.
"You can blindfold a dog and they're going to find you every time," Miami Beach Police Officer Donnie Anderson told NBC 6 during an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the Miami Beach PD's K-9 training.
Miami Beach K-9 Jimy, Anderson's partner, has been sniffing out bad guys and zeroing in on potential bombs for four years now.
"It's reassuring to know I've got probably the best partner in the city," Anderson said.
The dogs are born into it and train to become K-9 officers since they're puppies and continue training their entire lives. But the police dogs aren't cheap. They can range anywhere from $10,000 to $60,000, fully trained.
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"The dollar amount is staggering, the value we put on the dog," Miami Beach Police Sgt. John Brudizinski said.
Police say the dogs are invaluable to crime fighting but budget cuts are making it difficult, at a time they're testing out new dogs and looking to buy two more.
That's where the K-9 Knights are stepping in.
"I said 'why don't I call 10 friends, and we put in $1,000 every year and each year we can buy you a new dog,'" founder Peter Catalano said.
Catalano's 10 friends quickly turned into 40. Earlier this month, the group presented the department with two new recruits, free of charge.
The officers are grateful and so are the animals.
"I've been here for over 20 years, I've seen a lot of change in our city and I think that it's very important to feel safe, secure, happy," K-9 Knights member Bianca Oakes said.
The group expects to have 100 donors by next year and hopes to expand into the city of Miami.
"A small and simple concept but it's grown, I think it's a monster I created and it's getting bigger than me," Catalano said.
The group has bought a total of five dogs for the department in the last two years.
