So I did some googling and like most things, "it's complicated."
It varies by state, but killing a police dog can put you in jail for 10 years (and this has happened) and that is a federal law. There are some states pursuing stricter measures themselves where killing a canine officer is equivalent to killing a human officer.
As to what I said about killing a police dog having a harsher punishment, that was based on a single anecdote and I meant that the judges serve harsher punishments, not that the laws themselves are stricter.
Exactly. The only Federal Law re animals is the Animal Welfare act, which only has to do with research animals. All 50 states have animal cruelty laws.
18 U.S. Code § 1368 - Harming animals used in law enforcement
(a) Whoever willfully and maliciously harms any police animal, or attempts or conspires to do so, shall be fined under this title and imprisoned not more than 1 year. If the offense permanently disables or disfigures the animal, or causes serious bodily injury to or the death of the animal, the maximum term of imprisonment shall be 10 years.
I love learning from my mistakes! I misread the preamble (for lack of a better word) to the Animal Welfare Act’s Federal website. It says it is the only Federal Law addressing animals... or the research of: https://www.nal.usda.gov/awic/animal-welfare-act
> It varies by state, but killing a police dog can put you in jail for 10 years (and this has happened) and that is a federal law. There are some states pursuing stricter measures themselves where killing a canine officer is equivalent to killing a human officer.
Killing another person can get you life in prison or capital punishment (depending on state) that's way worse than 10 years.
It varies by state, but killing a police dog can put you in jail for 10 years (and this has happened) and that is a federal law. There are some states pursuing stricter measures themselves where killing a canine officer is equivalent to killing a human officer.
As to what I said about killing a police dog having a harsher punishment, that was based on a single anecdote and I meant that the judges serve harsher punishments, not that the laws themselves are stricter.
https://www.deseretnews.com/article/900010289/senate-approve...
https://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=96229&page=1
https://www.wpxi.com/news/local/man-who-killed-pittsburgh-po...