Nero's Law passes a senate committee - Turn to 10

(WJAR) — A Massachusetts bill that would provide protections for police K-9s has passed a senate committee.

“The dog is an amazing tool, but it has a heart and it bleeds,” said longtime member of the Yarmouth Police Department, Rep. Steven Xiarhos. “If they are injured, they should be taken care of. They should be treated by the EMTs and the paramedics. They should be put in an ambulance and brought to a veterinary hospital. It costs nothing and they deserve it. Massachusetts and Rhode Island does not allow it and we need to fix that.”

Nero's law is named for the surviving K-9 partner of Sergeant Sean Gannon who was shot and killed while using an arrest warrant in 2018.

The Belgian Malinois was two years old at the time of Gannon's death.

Gannon was posthumously promoted to Sergeant.

Xiarhos has previously praised Gannon and Nero and vowed to advocate for the law which would allow first responders to provide first aid to police K-9s.

It would also allow EMTs to take K-9s in need of immediate care to a veterinary clinic or hospital in an ambulance, provided there's no human in need of medical attention.

Legislation for the bill was first submitted in 2019. Gannon’s mother, Denise, previously testified in favor of it.

Xiarhos was the deputy police chief and at the scene outside a Barnstable home on April 12, 2018, when Gannon was fatally shot while serving an arrest warrant with a team of officers.

As they searched the house and approached the attic, two shots were fired.

As one bullet hit Gannon, another hit Nero in the head.

Gannon was brought to Cape Cod Hospital where he later died, aged 32.

Nero sustained traumatic injuries as the bullet hit him under the eye, leaving two holes in his trachea before puncturing his esophagus and landing in his shoulder. Xiarhos said that the bullet is still in the K-9.

“They don’t know how he lived,” he said. “He’s a tough dog.”

Xiarhos said the dog was trapped in the house with the suspect, Thomas Latanowich, for three hours, wheezing and ingesting his own blood.

“They found poor Nero in the attic, just bleeding to death,” he said, noting that the dog was hiding in a corner, struggling to breathe.

Despite a team of firefighters and paramedics that responded to the scene, none of them were able to tend to the dog due to legal restraints.

Chief Frank Frederickson of the Yarmouth Police Department told NBC 10 that an existing guideline in the law restricted EMTs from taking action on Nero.

“He had to be transported to a veterinarian,” Frederickson said. “At that time, the natural assumption was to put him in an ambulance and let paramedics treat him the best way they can. But they realized they couldn’t because of some regulations that don’t allow them to do so or they lose their license. The way the proposed law is crafted, it will address rare situations so there is no jeopardy of anyone losing his or her license.”

He added that the law as it currently stands almost cost Nero his life, as officers had to put him in the back of a car to take him to a veterinarian.

“It seems common sense that it should be acceptable in those rare cases," Frederickson said, "We owe it to those K-9s and their handlers.”

Nero now lives with Thor, Gannon's retired Labrador Retriever K-9, and Gannon's family.

Thomas Latanowich of Somerville was found guilty of second-degree murder in August 2021.

He had testified that he hid in the attic and fired his gun in self-defense and that he confused Gannon with people he thought were trying to kill him.

source: http://origin.turnto10.com/news/local/neros-law-passes-a-senate-committee

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