LEO K9 Protection Act: Harming a Police Dog Now Carries Up to 15 Years Prison Time, Plus New Rules for Emergency Vet Care

The newly introduced LEO K9 Protection Act is focused on two main things: significantly increasing the punishment for people who hurt working police animals and making sure those animals get quick emergency medical care when they’re injured on the job.

Bigger Penalties for Harming Working Animals

If you’ve ever wondered what happens when someone attacks a police dog, this bill makes the answer much clearer—and harsher. The Act specifically targets federal law regarding crimes against law enforcement animals (which includes both dogs and horses). Under the new rules in Section 2, if someone commits a crime against a police animal and uses a dangerous weapon while doing it, they could face a fine or up to 15 years in federal prison, or both. That’s a serious increase designed to deter attacks on these working partners.

Crucially, the law defines "police animal" broadly: it covers dogs and horses working for federal agencies, or those working for state/local agencies if they are assisting a federal agency in specific tasks like catching criminals, finding missing people, or detecting bombs. However, if a regular person is trying to give an injured police animal emergency medical care in good faith, they are specifically exempted from these charges. Essentially, if you’re trying to help the dog, you won’t be charged with harming it.

Getting Injured K9s to the Vet, Fast

The second major part of this bill (Sections 3 and 4) is all about streamlining emergency medical care for police dogs injured in the line of duty. This is where the rubber meets the road for first responders and EMS personnel. The bill mandates that the Secretary of Transportation, through the NHTSA, must issue official guidance within 180 days for emergency medical services (EMS) personnel—paramedics and EMTs—on how to treat an injured police dog.

This isn't just a suggestion; the bill requires new regulations within 240 days to officially permit two key actions. First, it must allow paramedics to provide emergency medical care to a police dog right at the scene or while transporting it to a veterinary clinic. Second, it must allow the dog to be transported to the vet via emergency vehicle. There is one major caveat here: the dog can only be transported or treated if there isn't a human who needs emergency medical attention or transport at that exact moment. People always come first, but if the scene is clear, the dog gets priority care. This is a practical change that recognizes the dog as a critical asset needing immediate stabilization, potentially saving lives—both canine and human—by getting the animal back on its feet faster. While this prioritization clause relies on subjective, real-time judgment by EMS personnel, it’s a necessary condition to ensure human safety remains paramount.