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Calgary police have charged a 14-year-old with maiming a police animal, along with break and enter and possession of a weapon during a break-in at a Falconridge school over the weekend.
A second suspect, 15, was also charged with break and enter in the incident.
Neither of the teens can be named under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.
It’s the first time the Calgary Police Service (CPS) has laid charges under Quanto’s Law. A conviction holds a maximum sentence of five years.
Just before 2 a.m. Sunday, police were called to a break-in at Grant MacEwan School. Police contained the building and two young suspects ran away from the school.
Watch below from July 30: A Calgary police dog has been stabbed after a break-in at a Calgary school. As Carolyn Kury de Castillo reports, two male youths are now in custody.
The K9 unit was called in, and during a foot chase, one of the suspects stabbed a police service dog named Jester multiple times in the head.
“The six-year-old German Shepherd was taken to an emergency veterinary hospital in life-threatening condition for surgery,” police said in a statement Monday. “His condition was upgraded to serious and he is now home with his handler recovering from the injuries.”
Acting Staff Sgt. James Lines told Global News in a previous interview that police service dogs are an important tool for officers.
“Canines are essentially our partners,” he said.
Quanto’s Law
In May 2014, the federal government introduced legislation that came to be known as Quanto’s Law to protect police service animals injured or killed in the line of duty.
The law came about after Quanto, an Edmonton Police Service dog, was stabbed and killed by a man trying to get away from police in October 2013. At the time, the strongest criminal charge that could be laid was cruelty to an animal.
READ MORE: Prime Minister in Edmonton to introduce Quanto’s Law
While Quanto’s Law would most commonly relate to dogs, horses are also used by some police forces. All animals trained as service animals would be protected under the law.
With files from Global’s Lisa MacGregor, Phil Heidenreich and Emily Mertz
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