BOSTON (WWLP) – Nero’s bill became law last February but there have been delays in implementation.

Nero’s Law is named after a police dog who was injured in the line of duty and it was passed so what happened to him would not happen to another K9 officer.

In 2018, Sgt. Sean Gannon of the Yarmouth Police Department was killed while on duty. His police dog, Nero was injured in the same attack. Although there were several ambulances there, Nero was unable to be transferred inside one of them due to state law. Instead, Nero was taken in a police cruiser to a veterinary clinic.

Now, due to Nero’s Law, medical professionals can take and provide medical attention to police dogs who are injured in the line of duty. However, the law itself won’t be fully implemented until next year and the delay is being called into question.

The Department of Public Health sent out a manual stating EMTs won’t be required to complete the three-hour course to treat police dogs until next year. The original deadline was this month.

Senator Mark Montigny who filed the original bill in the senate has said that requests from some ambulance companies to delay implementation are not enough to sideline the bill for another year. Montigny is hoping the department does away with the postponement and mandates training be finished within 90 days.