[caption id="attachment_80239" align="aligncenter" width="620"] Police dog Quanto was fatally stabbed by a suspect early on Oct. 7. (Edmonton Police Service)
[/caption]EDMONTON - The fate of Paul Joseph Vukmanich will be decided on Friday, as he has plead guilty to charges of animal cruelty and fleeing from police offers after brutally stabbing a German shepherd police dog last October. Vukmanich, 27 years old, confessed to being high on drugs at the time of the stabbing.

Edmonton officers were hot in the pursuit of Vukmanich, who had crashed a car with stolen license plates and attempted to flee from law enforcement on foot. Quanto, the German shepherd, was released in an effort to catch Vukmanich. The EPS Canine Unit dog was highly regarded as a key factor in having saved the officers involved during the incident from injury or death.

As of this writing, there is no law in the criminal code that applies to the harming or endangerment of a service animal. Law enforcement officers want to see that changed, as Quanto is the fifth Edmonton police dog that has passed away in the line of duty. There has not been a loss of an EPS canine in 16 years. Caesar, the most recent casualty, was killed in 1998.

Vukmanich is facing six charges, to all of which he plead guilty.

Sources:

Quanto The Police Dog Stabbed Repeatedly, Edmonton Man Pleads Guilty
http://globalnews.ca/news/1170876/update-man-pleads-guilty-in-killing-of-edmonton-police-dog/

Paul Vukmanich pleads guilty to killing police dog Quanto
http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/02/25/man-who-repeatedly-stabbed-edmonton-police-dog-quanto-to-death-says-he-was-high-on-drugs-pleads-guilty/