Police and Crime Commissioner Paddy Tipping has welcomed new laws which protect police animals being killed or injured after a Nottingham police dog was stabbed on duty.
The historic new law has been given Royal Assent and means offenders who cause unnecessary suffering to service animals can be prosecuted and imprisoned if found guilty.
Mr Tipping wrote to the then Home Secretary Amber Rudd after a Nottinghamshire Police dog called Quantum was stabbed a number of times last March while apprehending suspects during an incident in Top Valley in which three police officers were also injured.
Quantum needed nine stitches by a vet.
Dwain West, 26, of Bestwood, and Nathan Whyler, 30, of Top Valley, were jailed for committing a series of violent robberies where they threatened to stab victims and threatened to set them alight.
West also attacked police officers and stabbed the dog.
West was jailed for 15 years and Whyler for 12 years at Nottingham Crown Court.
Mr Tipping welcomed the finalisation of new legislation to protect police dogs and horses killed or injured in the line of duty.
It was inspired by the Hertfordshire police dog Finn who was seriously injured while trying to apprehend a man in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, in 2016.
Mr Tipping said: "This is a truly historic occasion for our brave and dedicated police dogs and horses who give much for the safety of others.
"This law could not be more welcome and I hope that people heed the very real threat of imprisonment it carries.
"Police dogs and horses face dangerous situations to protect ordinary people from harm and it is only right they are given the full credit and respect of our police officers."
The officers involved in the incident when PD Quantum was stabbed were given an award in November 2018.
His dog handler, PC Jennie Ellse said at the time: "While they were in the bush we tried to grab them and I saw one of the men go for Quantum's face and I thought he was hitting him but then I looked at the way his hand was shaped and I realised he was actually jabbing him with a knife.
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"I didn't actually realise I had been slashed in the hand until afterwards. My glove had been completely slashed and if I hadn't been wearing gloves it could have been a completely different story."
She said PD Quantum had become more protective of her since the incident.
The Service Animals (Offences) Bill also broadens sentencing powers in situations where a service animal is injured as a result of crime but prior to its introduction there were no laws that specifically protected police dogs or horses.
Campaigners said police dogs and other service animals should not be regarded as "objects" or "property" and called for a new law which recognises their individual contribution to public safety.
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