For Emma Stanford, an Odyssey on Behalf of K-9s Leads to Bill-Signing in Bunnell With Gov. DeSantis

And what it is, is rather remarkable, in so short a time.

Emma–who wants to be a federal agent and a dog handler–continued raising money that eventually funded a metal shed for the units’ equipment, near the county jail. Always looking for her next initiative, at that ribbon-cutting she informed Staly that she would now raise money to support retired K-9s. That got the sheriff thinking: police dogs typically retire to their handler’s home but without any monetary support, even though it can cost up to $2,000 a year to care for them, Staly said. He started providing a small stipend to the keep of retired dogs.

Meanwhile Emma’s efforts led to Rep. Sam Killebrew, a dog lover who wanted to start a state-supported fund that would defray the veterinary expenses for retired police dogs.

This morning under the aegis of the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office at the county courthouse, Emma, still just 14, stood next to Gov. Ron DeSantis as he signed into law Senate Bill 226, which starts doing exactly what Emma and Killebrew had been aiming for.

“As soon as I learned about the lack of funding for retired police dogs, I wanted Emma Loves K9s to assist their handlers with food and medical expenses,” Emma said this morning in a brief speech, referring to the non-profit she established. “When I heard that Mr. Killebrew had introduced a bill to support retired dogs, I knew I had to reach out to him. I wanted to help pass the bill in any way I could.”

That was how she put it in her official, prepared text, but in reality she was “in shock,” her mother, Carmen Stanford, said this morning as she and her daughter were being interviewed after the signing. “We were very surprised because Emma has been reaching out to Mr. Killebrew consistently on what’s going on with the bill, we knew that it passed, but after that, then what?” That question got answered Monday when the Stanfords got a text from the governor’s office that they may be invited to appear alongside him at the bill signing. It all went very quickly from there to this morning. “I was a little nervous, but I was really excited that I got to meet him,” Emma said.




DeSantis and throngs of supporters and local elected officials, along with the sheriff, Mayor David Alfin, St. Johns County Sheriff Robert A. Hardwick and contingents from the Sheriff’s Office itself, not to mention K-9s’, packed into what’s usually the jury assembly room on the first floor of the courthouse for the signing.

DeSantis recognized all the assembled, but then did what he usually does with his appearances across the state–devote a few minutes to anti Biden polemics, with his own future presidential ambitions in mind: he launched a tirade against the Biden administration triggered by today’s report of still-rising inflation, rattling off a series of dubious talking points along the way. “You don’t declare war on American energy and undercut our energy independence,” he said inexplicably, attacked the printing of “trillions and trillions of dollars” as inflationary, though his administration has absorbed billions of those trillions to pad its budgets even as he patted himself on the back for the state’s surpluses. But he was in pure-bred, pure-red territory, his words falling like red meat for the non-K-9s assembled.

He then spoke inaccurately of “police departments all across the country, saying you’re going to defund law enforcement” (none have been defunded: even those that claimed they might have gone the other way) before speaking of Florida backing its law enforcement agencies and providing signing bonuses for new recruits.




Only then, eight minutes into what until then been little short of a breathless rant–Emma and everyone else standing by–did he turn to the matter at hand, as if to an afterthought: “We also got to think of these guys here on all four legs because they do a lot,” DeSantis said. “These canines are instrumental in helping to keep our community safe.” He said the dogs are “put in very difficult situations. And they’re not only protecting the officers, but they’re protecting the public as a whole.”

The bill he signed calls for providing up to $1,500 in annual veterinary costs for retired dogs whether the dog is cared for by its former handler or by a different person who adopted it. The dog must have at least five years’ service as a police dog, or at least three years if the dog was forced into retirement by an injury sustained in the line of duty. The bill set aside $300,000 a year from the general fund to launch the program, which is then to be administered by a not-for-profit in a contractual arrangement with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement after a competitive grant award process. (Up to 10 percent of the money can go to administrative and salary expenses.) But when the annual funding for the program is depleted, reimbursements must be discontinued for the remainder of the year, according to a legislative analysis of the bill.

It seldom gets more bipartisan than legislation benefiting dogs. The bill, the Care for Retired Police Dogs program, passed the senate unanimously on March 1, and again unanimously in the House a week later. The bill DeSantis signed today goes in effect July 1.

“I don’t know who adopted who. Either Emma and her family adopted us or we adopted Emma on her mission for canines,” Staly said, summarizing the history between Emma and the Sheriff’s Office. (“The personal relationships she really had with some of the deputies here in Flagler–that’s what was the driving force behind this,” Carmen Stanford said later.)

“This is a great bill,” Killebrew said, referring to Emma as “almost family.”

“It is the same as an NFL player playing for 8 or 9 years and they are beat up and retiring. These dogs are beat up after they serve and they need medical attention. This money is going to go a long way to help,” Killebrew said before DeSantis signed and displayed the bill.




Staly said Killebrew told him that next year he’ll be seeking to expand the bill’s provisions to include helping retired with dogs’ board costs. He spoke of his pride in having a bill-signing in Flagler–a reflection of the community’s staunch support for law enforcement: Staly himself was just named president of the Florida Deputy Sheriff’s Association–and in what Emma has accomplished.

“I think it’s been good for her and her family as a Gold Star family,” Staly said, “but it’s been good for our canine guys, too. And I’ve got a great team of canine guys. They understand community outreach and engagement. But their dogs are well trained.” Noting today’s signing, and having all the dogs in the same room, he added: “That was my one concern when putting all the dogs in there because they’re all alpha dogs. You know, they all want to be the boss. And sometimes when you get them all together, they don’t play well in the same sandbox.” But they did.