Kansas legislatore are moving to impose tougher prison sentences for harming or killing police dogs
Kansas legislators are moving to impose tougher prison sentences for harming or killing police dogs, and the measure has bipartisan support despite questions elsewhere over how the animals are used in law enforcement.
The state House expected to take a final vote Wednesday on a bill that would allow judges to sentence first-time offenders to five years in prison for killing a police, arson, game warden or search and rescue dog, or a police horse, and mandate a fine of at least $10,000. Killing the dogs already is a felony in Kansas, but the maximum prison sentence is one year; the maximum fine is $5,000, and the law does not specifically cover horses.
Approval by the Republican-controlled House would send the measure to the GOP-led Senate. When the House took a preliminary voice vote Tuesday after a short debate, only a few members voted no.
The measure is a response to the death in November of Bane, an 8-year-old dog used by the Sedgwick County sheriff in Wichita, the state’s largest city. Authorities say a suspect in a domestic violence case took refuge in a storm drain and strangled Bane when a deputy sent the dog in to flush out the suspect.
