SC officers of fallen K-9s celebrate law hiking penalties for harming police animals

COLUMBIA — Dogs surrounded Gov. Henry McMaster on Wednesday as he ceremonially signed a law that increases protections for police animals.

In front of him sat a stuffed dog in a vest. To his left were Judah and Simon, two German shepherds that work for the State Law Enforcement Division. Police dogs from more than a dozen other law enforcement agencies across the state, as well as four mounted patrol units on horses, watched him from a crowd of officers.

Under the law, which McMaster actually signed into law May 15, anyone who taunts, hits or drugs a police dog or horse can face a maximum fine of $1,000, up to one year in prison, or both.

Intentionally hurting or killing a police animal carries a fine of up to $20,000 and a prison sentence of up to 15 years.

The law is named after six police dogs killed on the job over the past 15 years. Several of those dogs’ handlers attended Wednesday to celebrate the law.

Under previous law, killing a police animal brought a maximum prison term of five years.

“These are not just tools,” said Sgt. Warren Cavanagh, a K-9 handler for the Richland County Sheriff’s Department who started working with police dogs in 2004.

“These are our partners. These are our families,” he said. “So, now, when you kill one of them, it’s a serious event. It’s not a slap on the wrist.”

Cavanagh’s dog, Fargo, was shot and killed by an armed robbery suspect in December 2011.

He partnered with a new dog, Chico, several weeks later. His current canine companion, Viko, is 9 years old and close to retiring from the force, at which point Cavanagh will work with another dog.

Since Fargo’s death, Cavanagh has been among officers, their families, and prosecutors asking legislators for stronger penalties for people who harm police dogs.

Along with chasing down suspects and tracking trails, police dogs can help sniff out missing people and build bridges with communities, Cavanagh said.

Fargo was especially good at relaxing during school visits, which can help children get comfortable with law enforcement, he said.

Fargo “was that dog that every handler yearns to have, and I had him for a piece of my life,” Cavanagh said. “When you lose that and you’re riding around with an empty kennel, you kind of forget what your purpose was.”

The same was true for Special Agent Richard Hunton, whose K-9, Rico, was shot and killed while tracking a murder suspect in September 2023. SLED sent Rico into a house to check out areas where a robot couldn’t reach, but the suspect shot Rico as soon as he entered.

Hunton credits Rico with sacrificing his life to save the human officers working with him, who might have been the first in the house otherwise.

“It feels like you’ve lost a family member” when a police dog is killed, Hunton said. “It feels like the rug’s been pulled out from under you, and you don’t know where to start over, but you know that he allowed somebody to go home with their family.”

Hunton and his new K-9, 3-year-old German shepherd Judah, sat near McMaster as he signed the law Wednesday. Working with a different dog was difficult but necessary, Hunton said.

“You’ve got to learn different stuff about them,” Hunton said. “It’s a different partnership, but it’s the reason we do this, to protect us and to protect the public.”

After record number of SC police dogs killed, bill would increase penalties

Rep. Neal Collins has been pushing for stronger penalties for the past decade.

The idea gained momentum after a record-breaking five dogs were killed in the line of duty in 2024, leading to the bipartisan push that got the bill across the finish line this year, the Easley Republican said.

South Carolinians tend to have a special place in their hearts for their dogs, said McMaster, whose had two English bulldogs at the Governor’s Mansion: Mac arrived in 2017 after his beloved Boots died.

Police dogs often demonstrate the highest degree of loyalty, risking their own lives to save their handlers, he said.

“There probably is not another animal on Earth, and not many people on Earth, that would do things like that,” McMaster said.

Someone recently asked McMaster’s Presbyterian preacher whether dogs go to heaven, the governor said.

“His answer was, ‘Of course dogs go to heaven,’” McMaster said. “‘What would heaven feel like without your dogs?’”

That’s where every police dog killed in the line of duty waits to be reunited with their handlers, McMaster said.