By Suzie Ziegler
BOSTON — A new Massachusetts law allows EMS providers to transport and treat police K-9s injured on the job. State law previously barred EMS providers from transporting animals.
On Tuesday, Gov. Charlie Baker signed a bill known as ‘Nero’s Law,’ which is named after a K-9 that was shot and severely wounded in 2018, reported WCVB. The same shooting also killed Nero’s handler, Yarmouth Police Sgt. Sean Gannon.
The bill’s initial sponsor, State Sen. Mark Montigny, said Nero’s Law will help protect police dogs.
“This law will help ensure the wellbeing of working dogs who risk their lives every day to keep us safe,” Montigny said in a statement released Tuesday night. “I hope this provides some comfort to the Gannon family who fought tirelessly for this moment that will forever honor Sean and his fearless partner Nero.”
State Rep. Steven Xiarhos, who was on duty with Yarmouth PD at the time of Nero’s shooting, praised the law’s passage.
“I was there when Nero was carried out of the house bleeding to death, choking to death and no one was able to help him, legally,” Xiarhos told WCVB. “Thank God police officers put him in the back of a cruiser and brought him to a hospital.”
K-9 Nero is now retired and lives with Gannon’s widow, according to the report. The man convicted of Gannon’s murder was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison.
NEXT: 8 investments worth every penny for K-9 officers
https://twitter.com/CarolineGoggin/status/1493734651067781120