BARNSTABLE, MASS. (WHDH) - State Police are morning the loss of K9 Frankie, killed in the line of duty in Fitchburg. In the moments after the shooting, he was able to get quick medical care thanks to Nero’s Law, signed earlier this year.
“They put him in an ambulance like he should’ve been, and he was treated with dignity and respect,” said state Rep. Steve Xiarhos, one of the most prominent advocates for Nero’s Law. “That’s pretty special.”
As the law enforcement community mourns Frankie’s death, they’re also marking a bittersweet first: the first time Nero’s Law has been used.
“At least we know in Massachusetts that if a police dog is injured in the line of duty, that dog will be given every single ounce of energy and effort to save its life, and that dog deserves it,” said Xiarhos, himself a former police officer with the Yarmouth Police Department. He retired as deputy chief of police in 2019.
Yarmouth Police Sgt. Sean Gannon was killed and his K9 partner Nero was shot in a 2018 shootout. Nero was rushed to the animal hospital in the back of a police cruiser and survived. At the time, K9 officers were not allowed to get EMS transport. Nero’s Law changed that.
“They are well-trained, they’re special, expensive animals,” Xiarhos said. “Some people look at them as tools, so it’s a $30,000 tool that breathes and bleeds and loves and is the partner of that officer, their handler. They live with the handler.”
Frankie, 10, was taken to an animal hospital Tuesday by Fitchburg EMS after being shot during a standoff with an armed suspect.
Xiarhos said the response to this issue on both sides of the aisle has been a united front.
“That’s what K9 Frankie would want,” he said. We are humans, we should take this serious. And these dogs are filled with love, and when they’re injured, they deserve to be treated.”
Xiarhos said it’s his mission to get this law passed nationwide. Rhode Island’s General Assembly passed a similar law earlier this summer.
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