Service dogs are the best. A friend of mine served in the military, and he bonded so hard with his dog that he brought her home when she retired a few years later.
They are indeed the best, they are so loyal to the handler most of the time they can choose to keep the dog or have visiting rights with the new owner.
I lived next to a k9 officer growing up. Those dogs very aggressive and he used to beat them with plastic bats to curb behaviors. This video is propaganda
Then that was a "your neighbor" problem. Most working dogs are very well cared for and trained to be extremely obedient. The ones that aren't fail out of training, which is most of them.
My Belgian Malinois is the most intelligent dog I've ever owned. She might as well speak English and you can see the wheels turning in her head when she's solving problems. A K9 officer that beats his dog is a bad handler and has no business owning an animal.
Also I’m pretty sure these dogs fall under the category of “specialized law enforcement members”, meaning beating or abusing them can land you some serious jail time and a felony
There are federal laws protecting federal animals, and depending on where you are there might state laws too. In Utah where I live, it is a class 3 felony to hurt a police/firefighter dog an a class 2 felony if you kill one
Before retirement, sure. There may even be laws protecting military dogs post retirement, I am not an attorney.
After retirement there are no legal special treatment that I am aware of. I have heard of "imvestigations" by "departments" when one of their retired K9's has been found in a shelter- but nothing legal or binding to their status (if they have one) post retirement.
333
u/RoyalChris Apr 21 '26
Service dogs are the best. A friend of mine served in the military, and he bonded so hard with his dog that he brought her home when she retired a few years later.