A House Bill For Furry Law Enforcement Officers

LOWNDES COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI) – They are on the front lines of law enforcement.

Now, a new bill in the pipeline in Jackson, may help injured K9 officers.

House Bill 386 would allow any law enforcement K9 injured in the line of duty to be transported by ambulance to the vet.

The bill was filed by Representative Jay Hughes.

The bill would allow paramedics to transport injured K9s in the line of duty, if there are no people requiring medical attention at the time.

Lowndes County Sheriff Mike Arledge says the push for the bill came after there was a situation in the state, where an officer and K9 were injured and the ambulance wouldn’t take the K9 for treatment.

These four-legged officers entire lives are dedicated to service.

On shift, they are their handler’s law enforcement partner and off shift, they are their handler’s family member.

Lowndes County Sheriff Mike Arledge says House Bill 386 shows their importance.

“The K9 is that officer’s partner and we have a lot invested in the K9 and also, it’s just like another one of our officers also, so that shows the importance of this bill.”

These highly-trained furry officers sniff out possible criminal situations on a daily basis.

“You may need a sniff for a possible narcotics, they come in to use there, and then also, on a fleeing felon or an escaped person, or even an armed person, a dangerous situation, clearing a house. They can be a tool that can be utilized in those situations also,” says Lowndes County Narcotics Task Force Captain Archie Williams.

It’s the unknown of those situations that can put K9s’ lives at risk, which is why their handlers carry a medical kit with them in case they get injured.

However, depending on the situation, handlers can’t immediately put that medical training to use, until after a threat is handled.

“If we’re ever on a serious situation, we’ve got an ambulance on stand by, it would be great to be able to utilize that. That would keep from an officer having to take theirselves out of the situation to get the dog out. I believe that’s a wonderful bill and it’s going to assist departments all over the state,” says Lowndes County Sheriff’s Department K9 Handler and Corporal Michael Dulaney.

Sheriff Arledge believes the bill would be used in rare occasions, and would have come in handy in this handler and K9 crash, if it happened in a rural setting and if all other officers were tied up.

“Our department, we have six K9s and we have had some instances where we have had our K9s injured and we’re fortunate we had enough manpower that we were able to transport our own K9s to the vet.”

If this bill is passed, it would go into effect on July 1st of 2018.