Bone of Contention - Jan S. Gephardt

Dogs are people too! . . . Right?

XK9 Rex and his Packmates are bio-engineered and cyber-enhanced police dogs, created to be the most perfect law enforcement tools ever made. They're so smart, Rana Station has officially recognized them as uplifted sapient beings.

The rest of the universe isn't so sure. Inspectors from the Galactic Alliance that rules this part of space must decide the matter once and for all. But the Transmondians who created the XK9s want a do-over. The uplift was an accident - one they won't repeat. They plan to destroy all evidence of their mistake before the Alliance's investigators arrive.

Can Rex and his pack stay one jump ahead of their foes and also round up the last members of a murderous gang that blows up spaceships? Or will the Transmondians' dreams of dominance and empire crush everything that gets in their way?

This far-future science fiction police procedural has it all: sharp female sleuths, animal humor, "aliens" (exo-terrestrials), genetic engineering, political intrigue, and more. Safe for animal lovers: the dog does not die (but there are some thrilling near misses).