Bear was an 8-year-old dog whose owner says he died protecting him. Late on October 10, he was stabbed to death at a camp beside a bike path in Eugene, Oregon. The Lane County District Attorney’s Office now decides how seriously his killing will be treated, and Bear deserves a full and serious prosecution.

According to the Eugene Police Department, a man came into the camp shouting and behaving aggressively. Bear’s owner told officers his dog was protecting him. Police later found the suspect on the Ferry Street Bridge, with the knife lying beside him, and arrested him on a charge of first-degree animal abuse.

The suspect told officers Bear lunged and went to bite him, and police noted puncture marks in his pant leg. But police also allege he was the one who started the confrontation, walking up to a man whose dog was known to be protective.

Violence against animals is too often treated as a minor offense. That sends a dangerous message: that a loyal dog’s life doesn’t count, and neither does the safety of the person that dog was guarding. Bear did exactly what good dogs do. He stood between his owner and a threat, and he paid for it with his life.

The Lane County District Attorney should pursue the strongest charges the evidence supports, prosecute this case fully, and ask the court to bar anyone convicted from owning animals in the future. Everyone charged with a crime deserves due process. Bear deserved protection, too.

Sign the petition to urge the Lane County District Attorney to take Bear’s killing seriously and see this case through to justice.