Tougher penalties for killing police animals

[hrmjustin]

By DAN MOSHER

Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed legislation (S.1079A/A.2596A) into law Wednesday that will make it a felony to kill a police animal on active duty. The legislation, known as Ape's Law, was named after a K-9 who was killed during a standoff in Herkimer County this spring.

"Police animals go where others will not in order to keep law enforcement officials and all New Yorkers safe from harm and it's a tragedy when one is killed," Cuomo said. "This new law will hold the guilty parties accountable and offer better protections for these highly trained animals who are important members of our law enforcement community."

There is an increased use of police animals, such as dogs and horses, in law enforcement agencies across the state for a number of tasks such as crime solving and rescue and recovery operations. The abilities of these animals are the result of a great deal of training, time and resources and the killing of a police animal is a major loss for law enforcement trying to keep New Yorkers safe.

"Every day, police animals throughout New York are protecting and serving our citizens," said Sen. George Maziarz, R–Newfane, who sponsored the bill in the Senate. "In 2011, Rocky, the Niagara County Sheriff's Office K-9, lost his life while tracking clues in a robbery. Animals like Rocky are continually and increasingly used for tasks that place their lives on the line.

Read more at http://www.legislativegazette.com/Articles-Top-Stories-c-2013-07-29-84561.113122-Tougher-penalties-for-killing-police-animals.html

[petronius]

1. I was thinking about this general topic the other day, in the context of LEOs

casually or needlessly killing dogs or other pets, and it seems to me that if we recognize harm to a police animal as something more than mere property damage (which I agree with), then we should equally-well recognize police-caused harm to a private person's pet or livestock as something more than mere property damage. There also needs to be far stricter investigation (and prosecution if applicable) into police officer claims of defending themselves against animals.

As a broad general rule, any protection given to police (or their equipment, or creatures), should be balanced by commensurate protection from police (or their equipment, or creatures). In other words, if shooting a police dog is treated as shooting a police human, then police shooting a family dog should be viewed as shooting the family child. 'Necessary self defense' may look a little different by that standard...

[hrmjustin]

2. Well said!

[Arctic Dave]

3. I agree.

A police dog is no more special then a member of the publics dog.

Another bullshit expansion of a law.

[In_The_Wind]

4. I agree.