PITTSBURGH (AP) - The charity run by Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is paying to replace a city police dog fatally stabbed last month.
The Ben Roethlisberger Foundation was created in 2006 when a police dog was fatally shot in his hometown of Findlay, Ohio. The foundation has donated more than $1 million to police departments for police dogs.
A homeless fugitive, 21-year-old John Rush, remains jailed on charges he stabbed the dog when officers arrested him Jan. 28. The dog, an 8-year-old German Shepherd named Rocco, died two days later.
Roethlisberger says in a statement that the new dog will be placed with Officer Philip Lerza, Rocco’s handler, who was also stabbed in the shoulder while arresting Rush.
About 1,200 people attended the dog’s funeral on Friday.
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