By Olivia Sisson Lucy Valeski
The Herald (Rock Hill, S.C.)
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Richland County Deputy Sgt. Warren Cavanagh, remembers each element from the night time his Ok-9 canine Fargo was shot and killed.
“Every sound, every smell, everything I saw that night, like it was yesterday,” Cavanagh mentioned. “He was that dog that every handler yearns to have.”
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Fargo’s demise and a spate of Ok-9 killings in recent times prompted a brand new state regulation that will increase penalties for harming regulation enforcement animals.
Dozens of police canines, a number of horses and their handlers from regulation enforcement companies throughout the state attended a ceremonial invoice signing in Columbia on Wednesday morning. As Gov. Henry McMaster and regulation enforcement members praised the brand new laws, the canines whined, yipped and performed close to the downtown memorial honoring 9/11 victims and Ok-9s killed in South Carolina.
McMaster mentioned the loyal police canines gave their lives for his or her handlers and would possible do it once more. The new regulation acknowledges their contributions and relationships, McMaster mentioned.
He advised the gang a few preacher at a First Presbyterian church, which McMaster attends, who answered a query about whether or not canines go to heaven.
“Of course, dogs go to heaven,” McMaster mentioned the preacher responded. “What would heaven be like without your dogs?”
For many handlers, their canine companions are “family,” Cavanagh mentioned. The Richland County deputy was nonetheless a police officer when he misplaced Fargo, however he misplaced his function, he mentioned.
“These are not just tools, these are our partners, these are our families,” Cavanagh mentioned. “And so now when you kill one of them, it’s a serious offense. It’s not a slap on the wrist.”
Fargo’s Story
Fargo’s, Hyco’s, Rico’s, Coba’s, Wick’s, Mikka’s, and Bumi’s Law, the laws’s full identify, is a commemoration of the seven police canines killed within the line of obligation over the past 15 years in South Carolina. The most up-to-date casualty was Bumi, who was fatally shot in December 2024.
Fargo was the primary canine commemorated. Cavanagh and his canine had been monitoring an armed theft suspect, who shot and killed Fargo in December 2011, Cavanagh mentioned.
Cavanagh mentioned he and Fargo would typically know what the opposite was pondering. They would catch criminals and go to highschool demos collectively, the place children would pull on his tail.
He was the canine each handler yearns to have, Cavanagh advised reporters Wednesday.
“And I had him for a piece of my life,” he mentioned. Cavanagh didn’t know what to do with the empty kennel after Fargo died.
”When you lose one, you lose a chunk of you,” Cavanagh mentioned.
After Fargo, Cavanagh was assigned Ok-9 Chico, who he credited with giving him again his function. Now, he works with Viko, his seventh police canine.
Police canines “stand in that valley in between that bad guy and us as law enforcement,” Cavanagh mentioned. It’s an “honorable thing to do.” What ‘Fargo’s Law’ modified
Previously, offenders who injured or killed on-duty canines confronted fines between $2,000 and $5,000 {dollars} and imprisonment of 1 to 5 years.
Fargo’s Law, sponsored by state Rep. Neil Collins , R- Pickens , will increase these penalties. Those who injure or kill canines and horses now incur fines as much as $20,000 and will go to jail for as much as 15 years.
“I was advocating for more penalties than what’s in the current bill,” Collins mentioned. “I’ve compromised down to what it is.”
It is a misdemeanor to maliciously and willfully taunt, tease, beat, strike or drug an on- or off-duty police canine or horse. Torturing, mutilating, disabling, injuring, poisoning or killing the animals is a felony.
The laws was pushed, not solely by lawmakers’ love of canines, however by the associated fee it takes to retrain a police canine, mentioned state Rep. Jeff Johnson , R- Horry , throughout debate in late March.
“There is a lot of money that is invested in these law enforcement animals. Whenever they are injured or they are killed, that is tax money that has been wasted,” Johnson mentioned.
Why lawmakers argued – and why it handed
The regulation handed virtually unanimously with assist from House Republicans and Democrats after delicate debate and a few pushback. Rep. Todd Rutherford, D- Richland, who voted for it, questioned why police canines had been being injured and killed within the first place.
“All of us love animals, all of us love dogs and all of us that do should be asking: why is this bill necessary?” Rutherford requested throughout a debate in March. “Why is a dog being put in that position where they are being injured and killed?”
Collins mentioned Wednesday police canines helped defend officers, and Cavanagh mentioned canines heightened senses assist regulation enforcement.
“I think there are certainly situations where animals are a good use, and again, it’s to protect the officer,” Collins mentioned.”
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