Was This Appropriate?

From the LVRJ: A helicopter carrying a Utah police dog with a gunshot wound briefly shut down traffic in the southwest Las Vegas Valley Wednesday morning when it landed outside a veterinary emergency clinic.
The helicopter was carrying a canine for the Washington County Sheriff’s Office that was shot Tuesday night, Metropolitan Police Department spokesman Jay Rivera said. Tropicana Avenue was closed for about two blocks west of Durango Drive while the helicopter landed on the street outside the Las Vegas Veterinary Specialty Center.The dog, a Washington County sheriff’s office canine named Tess, was shot in the jaw in Santa Clara, Utah, after a carjacking incident Tuesday night, the St. George News reported. The person who shot Tess was also shot by police, according to the news report. His condition is unknown.The Washington County Sheriff’s Office posted on Twitter about 2:40 p.m. that K9 officer Tess is out of surgery and is heading home to Utah.  https://www.reviewjournal.com/local/local-las-vegas/airlift-of-wounded-utah-police-dog-stops-traffic-in-las-vegas-video/
I like dogs, I have several at home and I like the cops.
But is it appropriate to helicopter a K-9 police dog at least 100 miles for a wound to the jaw and the dog went home the same day?
Would the cops do the same thing for a human, if they were shot in the jaw but were not in bad shape?
Did they airlift the thug who got shot?  The article doesn't say.
I'm thinking this was not appropriate, a waste of taxpayer money and taking the helicopter out service for several hours.