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Senate Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
Senate of Pennsylvania
Session of 2023 - 2024
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | September 19, 2023 09:05 AM |
|---|---|
| From: | Senator Devlin J. Robinson and Sen. Mike Regan |
| To: | All Senate members |
| Subject: | Retired K-9 Health Care Retirement Assistance |
| In the near future, we will introduce legislation to provide financial assistance for the care of retired police dogs, or K-9s. Recently, we learned of the bravery of K-9 Yoda, who helped capture a convicted murderer in Chester County after a 14-day manhunt. This patrol dog hero played an important role in subduing the fugitive until officers could arrive and take him into custody. K-9 Yoda is only four years old but has already proven his capabilities as an essential member of our law enforcement. This is only one of many stories of these K-9s and their heroic actions, but as Pennsylvania law is currently written, these dogs have no benefits upon retirement. Another K-9 hero, Brutus, served for eight years as a bomb detection dog with Handler Sgt. Harold Weary, Jr., and participated in 547 VIP missions, including security for President Trump and Pope Francis. Unfortunately, K-9 Brutus received a cancer diagnosis in June of 2020. Many factors went into deciding to humanely euthanize him: the type of diagnosis, his quality of life, and the heavy price tag associated with his treatment. He was laid to rest on July 16, 2020. Service dogs dedicate their lives to protecting and serving our communities but upon retirement, the burden of covering health care costs for these K-9s falls on their handlers or adopted families. For this reason, we are proposing legislation to cover the costs of ongoing veterinary care and end of life care for K-9s after they’ve retired, and we respectfully ask our colleagues to join us in cosponsoring this important legislation. |