Champions of the canine world save and improve lives every day, and for this year’s Dog Days of Summer Kids’ Camp, campers will celebrate, meet and learn about K-9 heroes.

“Calling all heroes” is the theme for the sixth annual Dog Days of Summer, a camp and fundraising event for the Brookhaven Animal Rescue League. The camp will be held from 9 a.m. to noon July 27 through July 31 at Brookhaven City Park. Each day, children ages 5 to 12 will see demonstrations from working dogs who serve as real-life heroes such as therapy dogs, seeing eye dogs, search and rescue dogs and K-9 police dogs.

“[God gives us all a purpose] from the smallest child to the smallest dog and everything in between,” Camp Director Samantha Sivils said. “When you find your purpose and live what you’ve been called to do, you’re a hero.”

One such hero is K-9 Officer Lucas and the partner he protects, Sheriff’s Deputy Todd Frazier of Hancock County. One night shift in May, Frazier was ambushed by three men after checking on a man in a car at a Pearlington rest stop. In a deserted area, two men came out of the woods and joined the other in attacking Frazier, cutting him with a sharp object and dragging him into the woods.

Frazier hit a remote control device he was wearing around his neck that unlocks the backdoor of his patrol car, and Lucas, a black Belgian Malinois, sprung out and bit one of the suspects, sending all three running from the officers. Frazier survived with knife wounds and Lucas was unharmed.

Frazier and Lucas will be grand marshals of the end-of-camp parade, as well as visit with the campers and teach them about police dogs and what they do. Sivils said once the theme was set and the organization saw Lucas and Frazier’s story, they extended a request.

“Lucas has exemplified what a hero in the dog community is, and we want to celebrate him as such,” Sivils said.

The Heroes parade will begin at 11 a.m. on Friday and weave through downtown Brookhaven. Local law enforcement agencies will join Lucas and Frazier, along with any other personal pets campers would like to bring. Sivils said it will be a fun celebration of the week’s activities.

Campers will enjoy snacks and arts and crafts throughout the week, and also learn how to train and take care of their own dogs and how to react to strange ones. This informational aspect of the camp is crucial to the understanding of dogs as pets, Sivils said.

“If we can teach this generation how to properly take care of dogs we will not have the same overpopulation problem and animal abuse issues that we have today,” she said.

BARL is a non-profit, volunteer based, limited admission animal welfare group serving Copiah, Franklin and Lincoln counties. Its mission is to humanely care for shelter animals while contributing to community activities that reduce pet overpopulation, encourage responsible pet ownership, protect public health and safety and promote the human-animal bond.

Registration forms are available online at www.barl.net or contact Camp Director Samantha Sivils at 601-695-1987 or samanthasivils@gmail.com. Registration forms are due by July 20 in order to ensure the child’s correct T-shirt size. Camp registration is $75 and includes snacks and an official camp T-shirt. Anyone interested in adopting, contributing or volunteering should contact BARL at 601-757-4367 or info@barl.net.