On January 30, the Richmond Police Department (RPD) in Richmond, Va., posted an album to Facebook called "RPD Loves Animals." The photos featured officers and the animals in their lives. But, one picture stuck out: the shot of Major Crimes Detective Mac Adams with his five deaf rescue dogs -- four of them are pit bull mixes.

To date, the post has received more than 20,000 shares, the largest response in the department's Facebook history, according to a later post.

The pups -- Pickles, Nea, Piglet, Opal and Mortimer -- are an important part of Adams' family.

"[My wife and I] got involved with rescue and networking deaf dogs because a lot of them go un-adopted and end up in shelters for a long time and may be euthanized," Adams told the RPD, according to Facebook.

Adams, a 26-year veteran on the force, is also on the 2014 board of directors for Deaf Dogs Rock, a nonprofit that promotes the care and well-being of deaf dogs.

"Dogs have unconditional love anyway, and deaf dogs, they hear with their hearts," Adams told the Richmond Times-Dispatch. "I can’t say enough about them. They’re really cool."