Jack Keil, the advertising executive who created and gave voice to McGruff, the cartoon hound who exhorts Americans to “take a bite out of crime,” died on Aug. 25 at his home in Westminster West, Vt. He was 94.

His death was confirmed by his daughter, Betsy Kluck-Keil, who said he had recently learned that he had pancreatic cancer.

Mr. Keil worked on ad campaigns for Toyota, Cheerios and Life Savers during his years with the New York advertising agency Dancer Fitzgerald Sample (which was acquired by Saatchi & Saatchi in the 1980s). But his most enduring work began in 1979, when he spearheaded a pro bono campaign intended to educate Americans on how they could help reduce crime.

Mr. Keil (it rhymes with “smile”) decided to try a catchy slogan delivered by an animal mascot, similar to Smokey Bear, who reminds people to prevent forest fires. He told Smithsonian magazine in 1988 that he had considered an elephant, a deer and a cougar before the catchphrase and the dog character coalesced in his mind during a trip back to New York from the West Coast.