Durham police have designed a bite suit after Leafs player Mitch Marner, whose charity donated money to purchase new K-9 training equipment.

“That’s pretty cool what Mitch did for us,” said Det. const. Wes King. “Let’s do something for him in our little world, and let’s make our suit look like a Mitch Marner jersey.”

The new suit is blue and white with Marner’s #16 on the back.

King says he was first contacted a year ago by Mitch’s father Paul.

“It’s the same thing that I think attracted Mitch and his family to our unit. Most people just have this way of relating to dogs and they have this great affection to K-9s, to dogs, to animals.”

Officers say the suit will help with training the dogs. Durham Regional Police Service goes through about two suits per year, with each costing more than $3,000.

“The suits…you still feel the same apprehension, but it just doesn’t allow the teeth to get through the suit, so having a new suit is so beneficial to the health and safety of the officers who are having to wear those suits,” said Det. const. Kevin Dunlop.

Not only will the new bite suit help the dogs learn better, it will also help them succeed outside the training ground.

“Catching bad guys, saving lives and just being out there protecting the other officers that he works with,” Dunlop said.

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