DOGS ARE ONLY A TOOL OF LAW ENFORCEMENT

I have read about the shooting of the Lakewood police dog, and the talk of
passing a law to ensure that shooting a police dog would be treated on a
par with the shooting of a policeman ("Dog's partner wants tougher law,"
Aug. 8).

I for one believe that all dogs are created equal, and should therefore be
treated as such under the law. If shooting a police dog is to be treated as
an attempted homicide, than shooting at any dog should be treated as such.
Should we only let certain breeds of dogs be protected? Maybe only dogs
with a certain amount of training?

Let's extend that protection to seeing-eye dogs, and drug-sniffing dogs. We
can't leave out search-and-rescue dogs, or poodles that jump through hoops.
Maybe we can let the police dogs join the union, too. If they join the
union, we have to pay the dogs so they in turn can pay their union dues.
Then we need to give them the right to vote, so they can have a voice in
their union representation.

Starts to sound a little ridiculous, doesn't it?

The police dog is a highly trained tool of the police department.

The dog has no knowledge of the dangerous work it has been assigned, and
didn't have the ability to accept or refuse the duty to which it was
assigned. Maybe we should criminally charge the person responsible for
putting them in harm's way with animal cruelty.

Patrick Duffey Denver