EMS Treatment and Transport for Police K9s Public Hearing Tuesday
A bill I cosponsored to allow emergency medical services personnel to provide emergency treatment and transportation to police dogs injured in the line of duty will be up for a Public Hearing Tuesday, February 14 in the Public Safety Committee.
The bill includes this concept, along with ones to increase the penalty for intentionally injuring a police animal or dog in a volunteer canine search and rescue team, establish a penalty for annoying, teasing, tormenting or harassing a police animal confined in a motor vehicle, and establish a grant program to provide canine officers with body armor.
If passed, this measure will allow EMS personnel to transport an injured police dog by ambulance to a veterinary clinic or similar facility providing treatment. This would be allowed if there are no individuals in need of emergency treatment or transportation at the time.
Hardworking K9 officers, like Seymour’s K9 Zoar, put their lives on the line right alongside their handlers and should receive the same services if they are injured in the line of duty. This is a common-sense proposal to help keep officers on the scene, rather than having to leave to transport an injured K9 in need of emergency care.
A similar law was approved in Massachusetts last year after being proposed by Rep. Steve Xiarhos. Nero’s Law was named for the K9 partner of Yarmouth Police Sgt. Sean Gannon, who was shot and killed in April 2018 while serving a search warrant. Nero was rushed to an animal hospital in a police cruiser while empty ambulances sat at the scene. The law has been used twice since enactment to transport injured K9 officers to veterinary hospitals, once in July and once in December. In the latest incident, K9 Orry was in a police cruiser by the side of a highway when it was struck by a Connecticut driver.
The Public Hearing on the 14th for S.B. 932 will be held at 12:45pm in Room 1B of the Legislative Office Building and via Zoom. You can register to testify in person, or remotely. A unique email address must be provided for each person registered to speak. Registration will close on Monday, February 13 at 3pm.