A Hudson Valley police K9 pit bull--the only police pit bull in New York State--won a prestigious award.

City of Poughkeepsie K9 Kiah received the ASPCA Public Service Award, reports the Animal Farm Foundation.

Kiah began working in the City of Poughkeepsie Police Department in 2015 as a narcotics and missing person’s detection dog. She and her partner, Justin Bruzgul, also visit local schools and conferences to highlight the importance of animal shelters and animal rescue.

“She wants to work,” Bruzgul told the New York Post. “She’s high-energy. Affectionate. I couldn’t ask for a better partner.”

Kiah arrived in New York after her previous owner was arrested for animal cruelty. The four-legged furry friend was found beaten and abandoned in a parking lot in Texas.

Kiah was rescued and trained by Universal K9, an organization from San Antonio, Texas that rescues dogs, trains them for police work and donates them to law enforcement agencies across the country.

Funding was provided by the Animal Farm Foundation, a non-profit animal rescue and advocacy group based in Amenia. The foundation hopes to end the stereotypes associated with pit bulls.

“K9 Kiah has become a national sensation and is blazing a new path for other police departments and ‘pit bull’ dogs around the country,” the foundation posted on their Facebook page.

Kiah was donated to the City of Poughkeepsie Police Department by thanks to the partnership between Universal K9 and the Animal Farm Foundation.

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