By Bob Katzen

This bill would allow advanced life support care to be administered to an injured police dog by a licensed, trained, qualified professional.

The bill is a follow up to a law, known as Nero’s Law, approved in 2022 that requires EMS personnel to provide emergency treatment to a police dog and use an ambulance to transport the dog injured in the line of duty to a veterinary clinic or hospital if there are not people requiring emergency medical treatment or transport at that time. Nero’s law does not require EMS personnel to administer treatment on the way to the hospital. This new bill adds that requirement.

“[This bill] is also a true life Massachusetts story involving the murder of my fellow Police Officer Sean Gannon and the shooting of his devoted partner K9 Nero,” said sponsor Rep. Steve Xiarhos (R-Barnstable). “Nero’s Law Phase 2 enhances the current Nero’s Law [by] offering specially trained Massachusetts first responders the option to provide Advanced Life Support for police K9s injured in the line of duty.”