Katherine Klingseis

kklingseis@dmreg.com

Animal activists plan to march in Des Moines on Saturday to oppose the shootings of family dogs by law enforcement officials.

The march will begin at the Iowa State Capitol in Des Moines at noon Saturday. The event is part of the Freeze Don't Shoot National March on State Capitols.

Freeze Don't Shoot is a movement to raise awareness for the occurrences of law enforcement officials shooting family dogs in the United States.

The group advocates for law enforcement agencies to "implement canine training, restrain from lethal force and conduct a thorough investigation into these shootings," according to a news release from the group's Iowa branch.

Advocates say the same laws should be applied to law enforcement officials as they are to other citizens in negligent and unjustifiable dog shootings. The dogs' bodies should also be returned to their families when the investigations are concluded, the activists argue.

More information on Iowa's Freeze Don't Shoot group can be found on its Facebook page.