The Kansas House on Wednesday approved a bill toughening the penalties for injuring or killing a police dog, responding to the case of a K-9 killed in the line of duty last year chasing down a criminal suspect in Sedgwick County.
The House voted 107-4 to approve the bill that was introduced after a Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office police dog was killed after being strangled by a Wichita man who fled police and ran into a large storm drain.
The legislation drew opposition from Democratic state Rep. Ford Carr of Wichita who recalled how police dogs were used to attack African Americans during the civil rights protests of the 1960s.
“When I think of particularly the German Shepherd, the picture that always comes to mind is how the police released those dogs on those people that looked like me for doing nothing more than peaceful protests,” Carr said.
Carr said the bill was “somewhat of a knee-jerk reaction” to what happened to the police dog in Sedgwick County.
“Would you stand there and be beaten? Probably not. You would defend yourself. I would venture to say that dog was incapable of having a conversation with that individual or asking that individual to simply come out peacefully.”
Carr said the K-9 officer put the dog in a “very difficult situation.”
“I don’t think there’s any one of us here who would sit idly by and let an animal maul you without fighting back,” Carr said.
Supporters of the bill said dogs play an important role in law enforcement, whether it’s looking for missing children and seniors, hunting down suspects, sniffing out drugs or searching for explosives.
They said their speed, hearing, night vision and sense of smell are superior to humans’, making them ideally suited for law enforcement.
Testimony on the bill indicated that it can cost $18,000 to replace the dogs and send them through training.
The bill would make harming a police dog that results in disability or death a level four, nonperson felony, which carries a sentence of 38 to 43 months in jail without a record.
If the dog is injured or killed while eluding police, the offense would be a level three nonperson felony, which carries a jail sentence of 55 to 61 months without a record.
The bill also would mandate that someone serve at least 90 days in jail before they would qualify for probation. They would also be required to pay a $10,000 minimum fine.
In addition, the bill requires restitution, including the cost for veterinary medical treatment, reasonable funeral and burial expenses and replacement of the police dog.
Replacement costs would include training, personnel expenses and costs associated with boarding the animal during training.
The offender would also be subject to a psychological evaluation and an anger management program.
Republican state Rep. Trevor Jacobs of Fort Scott questioned why lawmakers were more focused any toughening penalties for harming a police dog than addressing abortion.
“We’ve had multiple, multiple pro-life bills to protect the unborn,” Jacob said.
“How many of those have we heard on the House floor? That’s my indignation,” Jacobs said. “Babies should be more of a priority. Protection in the womb.
“If we’re a pro-life industry, then that’s what we need to be,” he said.
