Slippery Slope?
Police dogs in Norway are finally getting the respect they deserve. The Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that they are public servants, making an assault on a police dog as serious as an attack on any police officer.
What will be the result of this precedent? I'm always concerned when the law equates animal rights with human rights.
In the old days, if you stole a man's horse, it was a hanging offense. That horse was the difference between living and dying. Maybe that's all this court was doing in a ruling like this. By harming a police dog, you are endangering the life of the police officer. IF that is what the court is saying, then I'm all for it. If, on the other hand, they are equating the life of a dog with that of a human, then this will have many undesirable side effects throughout the legal system in Norway, and possibly other countries (since it has become fashionable to use precedents made in other countries to set precedents in this country).
Police dogs in Norway are finally getting the respect they deserve. The Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that they are public servants, making an assault on a police dog as serious as an attack on any police officer.
What will be the result of this precedent? I'm always concerned when the law equates animal rights with human rights.
In the old days, if you stole a man's horse, it was a hanging offense. That horse was the difference between living and dying. Maybe that's all this court was doing in a ruling like this. By harming a police dog, you are endangering the life of the police officer. IF that is what the court is saying, then I'm all for it. If, on the other hand, they are equating the life of a dog with that of a human, then this will have many undesirable side effects throughout the legal system in Norway, and possibly other countries (since it has become fashionable to use precedents made in other countries to set precedents in this country).
1 comment:
These dogs are trained to put their lives on the line. Their lives should be protected to the full extent of the law, not because they are animals, but because they are law enforcement officials.
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