# Can police use deadly force to protect one of their dogs?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-police-use-deadly-force-to-protect-one-of-their-dogs/847730>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [February 10, 2020, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-police-use-deadly-force-to-protect-one-of-their-dogs/847730 "2020-02-10T14:26:18Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Corry\_El](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecae2f/32.png) [@Corry\_El](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corry_El)\
**Post date:** [February 12, 2020, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-police-use-deadly-force-to-protect-one-of-their-dogs/847730/21 "2020-02-12T17:50:33Z")

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> [@Machine\_Elf](#):
>
> According to a couple of sources on the web, it goes back to the K9 Corps, founded during WWII as part of the US Army:

That seems to be when it became a common term for military dogs and doesn’t seem to have been for police dogs prior to that. The clever homophone seems to go back a least a bit further though, there was a brand of dog food ‘K-9’ in the '30’s for example (Google ngram picks up the term back to beginning of 20th century but looking at books seems many at least are paragraph K section 9 etc).

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**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\
**Post date:** [February 12, 2020, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-police-use-deadly-force-to-protect-one-of-their-dogs/847730/22 "2020-02-12T23:47:43Z")

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Note: [Deebo seems to be recovering nicely](http://wzzm13.com/article/news/local/saginaw-k9-recovering/69-2deaaa15-f656-42ef-9f3b-f9210fe11204).

\*"“Deebo appears to be in good spirits and just wants to play with his little brother K9 ‘Emmett,’ however, due to restrictions Deebo cannot play or return to work under the doctor’s orders,” Saginaw police said…Police Chief Bob Ruth said he is a very popular dog with the community and at the department.

“Everybody loves Deebo.”\* 🙂

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**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\
**Post date:** [February 13, 2020, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-police-use-deadly-force-to-protect-one-of-their-dogs/847730/23 "2020-02-13T00:16:57Z")

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> [@Machine\_Elf](#):
>
> It’s maybe a pun if we’re talking about a [time-traveling robot that happens to be vaguely dog-shaped](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K9_(Doctor_Who)) - but for meat-based dogs, it’s not a pun, it’s a homophone. According to a couple of sources on the web, it goes back to the K9 Corps, founded during WWII as part of the US Army:
> 
> [70 Years of the K-9 (Canine) Corps | The National WWII Museum Blog](http://www.nww2m.com/2012/03/70-years-of-the-k-9-canine-corps/)

Just noting that in the military that is an outdated and unused term. I’m not sure when it was officially changed but the current term is MWD for Military Working Dog. The current MOS in the Army is 31K and is part of the Military Police Corps.

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