PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Although Phillies relief pitcher Archie Bradley’s time is limited by a one-year contract, he’s putting his time in the City of Brotherly Love to good use by giving back to the community.
Bradley and his fiance, Raegan Poole — who are both “huge dog people” — gave three of their Labrador retriever puppies to the Philadelphia Sheriff’s Office and the Burlington City Police Department, where they will train to become K-9s.
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“I’m a big community guy,” Bradley said on the Phillies Radio Network pregame show. “Raegan and I thought this was our way to give back. We never know if we’re going to be back here next year, but these dogs will serve this city and this area hopefully for multiple years to come.”
Bradley and Poole’s dog, Crash, had a litter of puppies, and the couple had difficultly finding homes for the remaining three.
After speaking with the police departments, they decided the pups could become K-9s or bomb-sniffing dogs. They donated two females, Liberty and Justice, to the Philadelphia Sheriff’s Office, and a male named Doc Halladay, in honor of the late Phillies pitcher Roy Halladay, to Burlington.
“We love what our police officers do to help us every day and get us to the ballparks and get us to stadiums and make us feel safe, and what better way to then give them a friend to help them do their job,” Bradley said.
Bradley said Poole drove all the dogs to Philly from Oklahoma, where Bradley is from.
“We gave them baths in the bathtub last night and got them nice and clean and then walked them into the stadium,” he added. “It’s almost like the dogs got their own entrance into the stadium today. They got walkout music; police officers were waving towels and stuff.
“It was a really cool moment for us to be able to do something like that and give these dogs their new home.”
