A bill in Congress would impose up to 15 years in prison for those who harm a law enforcement dog with a deadly weapon.
In partnership with K9s United, a nonprofit that seeks to protect and support dogs used in law enforcement, Republican Rep. Aaron Bean of Florida announced the Leo K9 Protection Act, a bill that would increase the penalties for individuals who use a deadly weapon to harm a federal police animal, Bean’s office said in a press statement.
“Imagine a world where harming a canine is treated with the same seriousness as harming a human officer,” said Debbie Johnson, president and founder of K9s United, at a press conference for the bill last week.
“The animals that serve us in a law enforcement capacity are being sacrificed. They’re putting their lives on the line without the full protection of the law. … Last year, we lost 21 canines in the line of duty—far too many,” Bean said at the press conference. He was surrounded by law enforcement officials and their police dogs.
Besides the penalty for harming a dog, the bill would authorize emergency medical personnel to provide first aid and transport injured canines to veterinary care, Johnson said.
Attacks on federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have surged 830%, highlighting the need for these protections to extend to canine and equine members of law enforcement, Bean’s office said in the press statement.
The bill is named after a Marion County, Florida, Sheriff’s Department K9 named Leo. Leo lost his life in the line of duty in February 2024, when he and his handler, Sgt. Justin Tortora, responded to a domestic battery call in Silver Springs. Leo was shot in the incident and died three days later.
Tortora was at the news conference and said that he hopes the same protection that Leo had that allowed him to be transported to the hospital can be recognized at the federal level with this bill, he told The Daily Signal.