K9 Police Deaths Are Increasing, Unfortunately

If you’re a dog lover like me, read this report at length at your own peril, because it’s sort of sad but important. At least take a look at this sample:

Should killing a police dog be punished more severely than killing another animal? There’s a movement underway by animal welfare advocates to increase the penalties for K-9 murders: Last month alone, five police dogs died at the hands of criminals around the country.

“We’re only in February and we’re already equal to all of 2015. There’s really been a troubling increase in canine officers being killed. It’s a spike. It’s very unusual to see so many K-9s killed in such a short period of time,” Steve Weiss, a New York police lieutenant and director of research for the Officer Down Memorial Page, said in an interview with Yahoo News.