S-1799.1 _______________________________________________
SENATE BILL 5915
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State of Washington 53rd Legislature 1993 Regular Session
By Senators Bluechel and Vognild
Read first time 02/24/93. Referred to Committee on Law & Justice.
AN ACT Relating to accelerant detection dogs; amending RCW 4.24.410 and 9A.76.200; and prescribing penalties.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
Sec. 1. RCW 4.24.410 and 1989 c 26 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
(1) As used in this section:
(a) "Police dog" means a dog used by a law enforcement agency specially trained for law enforcement work and under the control of a dog handler.
(b) "Accelerant detection dog" means a dog used exclusively for accelerant detection by the state fire marshal or a fire department and under the control of the state fire marshal or his or her designee or a fire department handler.
(c) "Dog handler" means a law enforcement officer who has successfully completed training as prescribed by the Washington state criminal justice training commission in police dog handling, or in the case of an accelerant detection dog, the state fire marshal's designee or an employee of the fire department authorized by the fire chief to be the dog's handler.
(2) Any dog handler who uses a police dog in the line of duty in good faith is immune from civil action for damages arising out of such use of the police dog or accelerant detection dog.
Sec. 2. RCW 9A.76.200 and 1989 c 26 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:
(1) A person is guilty of harming a police dog or accelerant detection dog if he or she maliciously injures, disables, shoots, or kills by any means any dog that the person knows or has reason to know to be a police dog or accelerant detection dog, as defined in RCW 4.24.410, whether or not the dog is actually engaged in police or accelerant detection work at the time of the injury.
(2) Harming a police dog or accelerant detection dog is a class C felony.
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