Missouri bill to increase penalty for harming police dogs fails in legislature

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Missouri lawmakers have defeated a bill that would have increased the penalties for injuring or killing police dogs.

House members voted 73-68 against the bill Monday after a bipartisan group of primarily black lawmakers spoke out against it.

If the bill had passed, people suspected of killing or incapacitating law enforcement animals — which happened in December when a Cass County K-9 was stabbed in the neck after trying to stop a suspected thief at a Harrisonville Walmart — would have faced at least three and possibly 10 years behind bars.

Currently, in Missouri, assault on a police animal is the same as stealing a library book. It’s a Class C misdemeanor, carrying a maximum of 15 days in jail. – READ MORE

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Military working dogs and their handlers stood outside a Delaware veterinary clinic in an emotional farewell for one very good boy.

As reported in an article from Dover Air Force Base, Rico served eight years in the miliary before he was diagnosed with canine degenerative myelopathy. The past few months had been hard on the German shepherd’s health and it was decided that it was time to lay him to rest.

In an emotional and intimate farewell, Rico was carried into the veterinary clinic by his former handler, retired Tech. Sgt. Jason Spangenberg, as members of the 436th Security Forces Squadron lined up in a final salute for the brave dog.  – READ MORE

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A disabled Army veteran’s service dog was found this week shot in the head and dumped by railroad tracks in Boone County, Ky.

The dog, Gunner, had belonged to Bryan Vallandingham, a 14-year U.S. Army veteran in Richwood, Ky., who relied on the service animal for safety, Cincinnati’s Fox 19 reported.

The family said Bryan wasn’t doing well after learning of Gunner’s death, and has been having repeated seizures.

The family suspected Gunner had been stolen from their yard more than two weeks ago. One family member said they received text messages from a person who claimed to know where the dog was and demanded money, but the family refused. – READ MORE

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Every day, Senior Chief Brad greets sailors and marines as they enter a military clinic for their regular doctor’s appointments. Throughout the day, he makes his rounds and visits patients sitting in the waiting area, cuddling with them briefly. If he senses they are down, he takes action.

But he’s no medical professional. He’s a golden retriever yellow lab mix initially trained as a seeing-eye dog, a post-traumatic stress disorder therapy dog and, now, a stress dog.

As suicides across the military have steadily increased since 2013, according to the Department of Defense (DOD), a naval clinic on Joint Base Andrews in Maryland has found a secret weapon to sniff out military members dealing with extreme stress – a dog.

When Senior Chief Brad senses someone is down, he instantly alerts his handler, Chief Bobby Long. Long, a nurse practitioner, counsels the patient to figure out if they need professional help.

“People that need a little extra attention or are maybe showing signs of irritability, stress, depression, whatever it could be; he will really focus in on that person and then he wants my attention,” Long said. “Some of the science behind that shows that dogs can pick up on pheromones that people emit when they are highly stressed and some science points to body language, cues that people leave.“READ MORE

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