COLUMBIA — After a burglary suspect shot police dog Coba to death last June, prosecutors wanted to put the perpetrator in prison for as long as possible.
The man was sentenced to 33 years, but only five of those were for killing Coba, said David Stumbo, the solicitor who prosecuted the case in Newberry County.
“We didn’t believe that five years was nearly enough time,” Stumbo told a panel of legislators Tuesday.
Coba was one of five police dogs killed in the line of duty last year, an all-time high for the state, according to Officer Down, which tracks law enforcement deaths.
A bill senators advanced to the floor Tuesday by a unanimous vote would increase the potential fines and prison time for anyone who kills or injures a police dog or horse in South Carolina.
The existing penalty for killing a police dog or horse is up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000. That’s not nearly enough to show the state is serious about protecting its police dogs, said Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott.
His department lost three police dogs in the line of duty last year, the most of any county.
“Unfortunately, the penalty for killing these dogs, for injuring these dogs, is very minimal,” Lott said.
Under the proposal, killing a four-legged officer could come with a sentence of up to 10 years in prison and a fine of $20,000. Injuring one would be punishable by up to five years in prison and $5,000 fine.
“This protection is what’s deserved for these canines,” said John Blackmon, president of the South Carolina Fraternal Order of Police. “We owe them a debt, and this protection is that debt.”
Police dogs often save the lives of police officers by going into situations too dangerous for a person or pulling attention away from their handlers, law enforcement officers said.
Lott pointed to Sgt. Warren Cavanagh, who credits his Belgian Malinois, Fargo, with saving his life by taking bullets meant for him during a 2011 shootout. Fargo was the first police dog killed in the state, Lott said.
Police dogs can sniff out drugs and explosives, find the source of arson and take down suspects on the run, said Greenville Sheriff Hobart Lewis. They typically live with their handlers, allowing them to bond both on and off the clock, he said.
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“These dogs are certainly more than just a tool,” Lewis said. “They’re law enforcement officers. In our case, they’re deputies. They’re partners. They’re family.”
The dogs are not like other pets, Lewis said. They go through a strict selection process and upwards of 600 hours of training to get ready for duty, he said.
That means the dogs are costly to replace. A dog straight out of handler school — not even fully trained for duty — costs at least $12,500, Lewis said. Other law enforcement agencies, such as Horry County, have reported spending as much as $18,000 for a single police dog, according to a review of the bill by the state’s fiscal experts.
“These animals represent a significant investment of time, money and training,” Lewis said.
Law enforcement officers have seen an increase in violence directed toward police dogs in the past year, officers told the committee. Along with the record number of dogs killed, law enforcement agencies have had an unknown number of dogs hurt while on duty, Lewis said.
Among them was Micky, a Greenville County police dog stabbed repeatedly while deputies attempted to serve a warrant last June, Lewis said.
“These aren’t rare cases anymore,” Lewis said. “They are becoming more and more common, and that should alarm us all.”
When he was a police officer in Goose Creek and North Charleston, Sen. Brian Adams knew to stay behind the police dogs when they were on assignment together. He was afraid of what he knew they could do, but he also saw how much they helped their handlers, said Adams, the bill’s sponsor, who’s retired from law enforcement.
“They are a great tool and a great partner for our canine handlers,” the Goose Creek Republican said.
Last updated 6:20 p.m., Apr. 15, 2025
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