I filed a bill called “Hyco’s Law. Hyco was a police dog for the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department that was killed in the line of duty on October 21, 2015. Currently, the SC statute has a maximum penalty of 5 years and a fine up to $3,000 for killing a police dog. I’m told that we spend at least $25,000 on police dogs so the punishment appears to be low. In Georgia, the maximum is 20 years. Here’s where we started:
* Increase the prison sentence to 2-10 years
* Increase the maximum fine to $30,000
* Change “and” to “and/or” – either prison and/or fine
* Add mandatory restitution to cover the full cost of restoring or replacing the dog that was injured or killed, including all purchase, veterinary, and training expenses incurred as a result of the incident.
* Add optional animal-related community service for 1 year in addition to the other penalties (animal shelter, humane society, spay/neuter clinic, veterinary clinic, adoption service)
* Read “Hyco’s Law.”
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