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PETA Statement re Charges Filed Against Frankfort Officer After K-9 Abuse Caught on Video

For Immediate Release:
June 12, 2026

Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382

Frankfort, Ind. –

Below, please find a statement from PETA Associate Director Colin Henstock regarding the news that Frankfort Police Department Sgt. Ethan Cunningham has been charged with felony official misconduct and misdemeanor animal cruelty after a video appeared to show him forcefully throwing a K-9 named Taz to the ground:

PETA is thankful to the Boone County Sheriff’s Office for pursuing some measure of justice for Taz, who deserves retirement to a safe, loving home. The Frankfort Police Department should immediately seize this moment to reassess its use of dogs in inherently dangerous police work and replace them with tactical robots, drones, or other state-of-the-art technology, which can’t be beaten or killed in the line of duty.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow PETA on X, Facebook, or Instagram.

For Media: Contact PETA’s Media Response Team.
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“Almost all of us grew up eating meat, wearing leather, and going to circuses and zoos. We never considered the impact of these actions on the animals involved. For whatever reason, you are now asking the question: Why should animals have rights?”

— Ingrid Newkirk, PETA Founder and co-author of Animalkind

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