I'm with you on this Frank. Call me out-of-touch, but my strict Christian upbringing taught me that there is (or should be) a clear dividing line between humans and all other creatures. My mother especially (1915-2002) grew up dirt-poor on what we call today a subsistence farm, and had a very clear idea of the line between humans and animals. Everything from cats to draft horses had a use and were needed for survival. But they were not humans. The debasing of human life is a constant goal of the left, and elevating animals to the same level as humans is part of it, IMO. I can't provide a reference, but I recall reading somewhere about some rabid feminist (pro-abortion, of course) who was horrified that a vet was performing an abortion on a dog I believe. What? I came up with a ponderable a few years ago that tweaks the confused among us: Who has the brains and the instincts they were born with -- mother bears or feminists?
Sometimes it is the dog's ability that makes them useful. With ears and noses (and eyes in low-light environments) that are more sensitive than ours, it is not just the removal of restraints that makes a canine useful to law enforcement. Acceleration in a chase is also an element.
This guy was also wanted for using drugs, so they would probably have had the dog along to sniff the car for drugs after the person was arrested. It just happened that he crashed his car into the police car and set it on fire, killing the dog. The information does not say that he was sentenced to 20 years, it says 10 years, and that included all of the charges, not just killing the police dog. He also had a 26 year sentence for prior convictions, so I am not sure why he was even out of prison and able to hijack someone’s vehicle.
My synopsis of the newspaper accounts may not have been clear. Apparently there were two separate trials for the multiple charges resulting from that same July 2019 event where he crashed into the K-9 car as he was eluding police while driving a stolen vehicle after committing armed robbery. -November 2020 he was convicted of armed robbery/grand theft auto, sentenced to 26 years and jailed -September 2021 he was convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm and of killing the dog --An additional 10 years for that second conviction on different charges arising from the same event were tacked onto the 26 year sentence He did have "several active warrants" at the time of the July 2019 event.
Yes, the left's desire for instability, fear, and chaos by not properly punishing violent criminals is a whole other matter.
Here's how we all know it works: -Set critters above humans -Appoint yourself to be the representative of the "can't speak for themselves" critters Now you are above humans, who must subjugate themselves to your "on behalf of superior critters" pronouncements. And the beauty of it is, the critters can't fire you. Heck, million$$$ are made by people who play this self-appointment game with classes of people, who also cannot fire them.
A police dog is a police officer, it takes the same risk as its handler, the only real difference is it can't bark orders at a person and it does not get paid nor gets to eat donuts with its handler when he/she goes to dunkin donuts at break time.