February 25, 2022
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The humans behind Nero's Law, a new state law that protects police dogs - Yahoo News

When a SWAT team carried police dog Nero out of a Marston Mills home on April 12,2018, he was choking, bleeding heavily and had a bullet lodged inside him. EMTs, paramedics, and ambulances were all at hand, but due to state law were legally prohibited from providing medical help to the dog.

“Police K-9s are officers right up until when they’re injured, then all of a sudden they were dogs,” said Dr. Kevin Smith, Nero’s veterinarian and author of Nero’s Law, a bill recently signed into law by Gov. Charlie Baker, which allows EMS professionals to treat and transport police dogs injured in the line of duty.

Nero survived, but the incident shed light on a deeper issue, Smith said.

Dr. Kevin Smith, a veterinarian at Hyannis Animal Hospital, plays with Shamus, who had heart surgery, in 2018. In an unrelated matter, Dr. Smith authored the recently signed Nero's Law, which allows emergency workers to treat police dogs injured in the line of duty.
Dr. Kevin Smith, a veterinarian at Hyannis Animal Hospital, plays with Shamus, who had heart surgery, in 2018. In an unrelated matter, Dr. Smith authored the recently signed Nero's Law, which allows emergency workers to treat police dogs injured in the line of duty.

Nero, a Belgian Malinois, had been the K-9 partner of Yarmouth police Sgt. Sean Gannon who was shot and killed that day while trying to serve a warrant in a Marston Mills home.

At that time, Smith had been working on a program to train SWAT medics to treat injured police dogs. He quickly realized that the program he had been working on would not be allowed under existing state law.

Smith began the process of writing Nero’s Law. A veterinarian with no legal experience, Smith spent countless hours reading Massachusetts General Laws. Lee Palmer, a veterinarian and paramedic from Alabama, helped him with the work.

“My head was swimming in MGLs,” said Smith, referring to Massachusetts General Laws.

Yarmouth police Sgt. Sean Gannon and his K-9 partner Nero took part in the National Night Out event in 2017.
Yarmouth police Sgt. Sean Gannon and his K-9 partner Nero took part in the National Night Out event in 2017.

Luckily, Smith’s family is used to his irregular sleep patterns and didn't notice his obsession with writing a piece of legislation. Part of the reason the process took so much work is that Smith had to familiarize himself with all laws on human and veterinary medicine.

After about nine months, Nero’s Law was complete. Smith took it to then-state Rep. William Crocker, a Republican from Centerville, who filed the bill, but was unable to get it passed during his time in office. The baton was passed to state Rep. Steven Xiarhos, R-West Barnstable, former member of the Yarmouth Police Department, who was at the Marston Mills home the day Gannon was killed.



source: https://news.yahoo.com/humans-behind-neros-law-state-090015034.html

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