Police dogs should be considered civil servants and any acts of violence against them therefore merits the same punishment as attacks on human police officers, Norway's Supreme¹ Court ruled Thursday.

"The police officer and dog work ... as a single unit and ... an attack on the dog must be viewed in the same manner as an attack on the officer," the court said in its ruling.

The case dates back to May 19, 2007, when a man breaking into a house in the western town of Bergen was chased down by police dog Vera. Once he was on the ground and was being placed in handcuffs, he struck the German Shepherd.

The man was found guilty of attempted burglary, but was freed in two lower courts on charges that he had attacked a civil servant. Those verdicts were overturned by Thursday's ruling.

"Resorting to violence against a police dog being used to assist in an official operation in the line of duty, and who is under the immediate² control of the officer, clearly falls under the article" 127 of the Norwegian penal³ code protecting civil servants, the court said.

The defendant⁴ thereby⁵ risks up to three years behind bars.

The Supreme Court did not hand down a sentence, but ordered the Appeals Court to re-examine the case.

挪威最高法院于本周四裁定，警犬应享受与国家公务员同等的待遇，任何“暴力袭犬”行为应受到与“袭警”同等的处罚。

法院的判决书称：“警察与警犬是一个执行任务小组，所以袭犬行为应与袭警行为同等视之。”

这一案件源于去年5月19日发生在挪威西部卑尔根市的一起入室抢劫案。在当天的追捕过程中，犯罪嫌疑人被警犬维拉追到并扑倒在地，当这名男子戴着手铐俯卧在地时，他趁机袭击了这只德国牧羊犬。

此前经两家低级法院裁决，这名男子入室盗窃罪名成立，但袭击公务员的指控不成立。但这一裁决于本周四被最高法院推翻。

挪威最高法院称，“暴力袭击正在协助警察执行公务的警犬显然触犯了挪威公务员人身保护刑事处罚条例第127条。”

这名罪犯可能要被判入狱三年。

但最高法院没有宣布判决，而是责令上诉庭复议此案。