Senate Bill 238 aims to enhance the legal protections for search and rescue dogs by expanding existing laws that currently protect police and fire animals. The bill defines a "search and rescue dog" as one that has been trained or is being trained by a recognized agency to locate lost or missing individuals and victims of disasters. It amends the title of the relevant statute to include search and rescue dogs and modifies the language to explicitly prohibit harassment, intimidation, or abuse of these dogs, similar to the protections already in place for police and fire animals.

Additionally, the bill outlines the penalties for violations, which include a Class B forfeiture for general violations, a Class A misdemeanor for intentional or negligent violations knowing the animal's role, a Class I felony for causing injury, and a Class H felony for causing death to the animal. The amendments ensure that the same legal consequences apply to actions against search and rescue dogs as those against police and fire animals, thereby reinforcing the importance of these working dogs in public safety and emergency response.

Statutes affected:
Bill Text: 951.095(title), 951.095, 951.095(1)(intro.), 951.095(2)(b), 951.18(2m), 951.18