toledoblade.com --

Dogs and cats often are not the best of friends.

So if you decide to taunt a dog with a cat, just make sure of one thing - that the dog is not a duly sworn law enforcement officer.

That really can make the fur fly.

Wood County prosecutors are considering charging a Perrysburg Township teenager for using a cat to rile Bodo, the township's German shepherd police dog.

"We've looked it over, and I think we're going to charge him with harassing a police dog," Ray Fischer, Wood County prosecutor, said.

A section of state law is dedicated to protecting police animals and makes their harassment a second-degree misdemeanor. It states: "No person shall recklessly do any of the following: (1) Taunt, torment, or strike a police dog or horse."

"The way they see it, the police dog is a sworn officer, the same way I am," township police Officer David Smith, Bodo's handler, said.

If the charges are filed next week in Wood County Juvenile Court, it would mark the first time the county's prosecutors have pursued that particular offense, Mr. Fischer said.

Any charges would stem from an incident Tuesday that left Bodo barking and the police cruiser that he was in shaking back and forth, according to police.

Officer Smith went to a residence on Fort Meigs Boulevard on a domestic violence call, and Bodo was alone in the cruiser when the teen carrying a black cat approached, he said.

"He basically took the cat and went to the rear door of the police cruiser and pushed him up against the window. Then, obviously, my dog went berserk," Officer Smith said.

"[The boy] figured it was pretty much a joke," the officer said.

Bodo is 4 years old and has been with the township police department for more than two years. He is used for drug work, tracking, and building searches.

"He's a great asset. He's my right hand," Officer Smith said.

Jim Watson, national secretary of the North American Police Work Dog Association, said about 70 percent of states have laws to protect police dogs. He said they provide a means of dealing with people who would impede the dog in performing its duty.

"By teasing and taunting that dog in the back of the police car, that dog could get hurt - from a physical injury of the legs or paws to breaking a tooth," Mr. Watson said.

Mr. Fischer added: "It's the same as if you were dealing with a police officer. You have to have a certain respect for legal authority."

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