K-9 Officer Could Face Charges After Dog Dies In Car
 

K-9 Officer Could Face Charges After Dog Dies In Car

Posted: 10:52 pm PDT May 27, 2009Updated: 11:12 pm PDT May 27, 2009

ALAMEDA, Calif. -- An Alameda police K-9 unit officer could be facing charges after he allegedly left a trained police dog unattended in his car on a warm day for over three hours. The dog later died.


Alameda police won't release the name of the officer or of the dog that died. They said the dog was a Belgian Malinois about the size of a German Shepard.


Police said the K-9 officer left the dog unattended in his personal vehicle while undergoing training near the Alameda Police Department.

When the officer returned three hours and 15 minutes later, the dog was already down.


Capt. Jim Brock said that was when the handler noticed the dog was in distress. "Attempts were made to revive the animal at the emergency hospital and the dog had expired," according to Capt. Brock.


The incident happend on May 5th, but the case was given to prosecutors on Wednesday. The Alameda County District Attorney plans to make a decision on pressing charges against the officer next Monday.


Meteorology Professor Jan Null of San Francisco State University has studied the effects on heat inside parked vehicles. He said it doesn't take long for a car's interior to get blistering hot. "In the first ten minutes the temperature of a car goes up by 18 degrees and after an hour it's 45 to 50 degrees higher than the outside air temperature. It's exactly like an oven," according to Null.


Null says the temperature in Alameda on May 5th was in the low to mid 70's, but inside a parked car it would be much hotter. "That would have put the temperature inside the vehicle at 110 plus. It could possibly been as high as 120 degrees," he said.


Dr. Terence Krentz works as a veterinarian in the East Bay. He did not work on the dog, but has studied the effects of animals left in vehicles. "They'll have an increased heart rate, increased respiratory rate, have trouble controlling their metabolic functions and they'll slowly turn down, " he said.


Alameda Police said the dog had just completed narcotics training and had been with the department six years.


Captain Brock said the the loss the handler feels and the handler's family feels is tremendous, "He's crushed."


The Alameda Police Department has three dogs in its K-9 unit. It can cost upwards of $10,000 to train such a dog. There has been no decision as to whether the dog will be replaced.~

http://www.foxreno.com/news/19586901/detail.html

i hope they charge his ass if a regular citizen did this he would have been arrested on the spot and rightfully so

I'm really shocked that he didn't know better.....
Hard lesson learned....http://www.pitbull-chat.com/images/smilies/no2.gif

Me too.

That officer may be "crushed", but actions have consequences regardless of whether or not it was an accident.

Not only do I think he should be charged, but he should also be forced to pay restitution in the amount of the value of the dog. K9 officers are not cheap.

K-9's could run well over 10 grand.

One of the just-finished-training dogs our local PD bought ran about $26,000. Or according to all the news media, it did.

I agree...the Police Officer should compensate the department.

What an idiot!! How terrible for the dog.

Idiot, poor dog.

I have no love lost for the officer. I once had a K-9 dog "put" on my arm by a officer and his gang of fellow officers. I had already been hand-cuffed, searced and was laying face down on the asphalt. They then shook my arm, said, "Get it boy" and that dog bit into my tricep and bicep. Blood was everywhere. They did not give the command to "Let go" but rather, ripped the dog off my arm hoping to take a chunck with it.

Oh, then they kicked me in the nose, which broke.

Fun times.... no love lost here....

I agree with everyone else that the officer should be charged the same way we would be charged if we did such a thing. He should have known better, not leaving a dog in a hot car is common sense.

Wow, that's horrible! Poor dog, what a horrible way to die, as bad as leaving a kid in the car.... what the heck was he thinking... http://www.pitbull-chat.com/images/smilies/no2.gif

That cop should be charged the same way i would be charged, if
I was responsible for killing that k-9.

Dont they leave the car on with the air on when the dogs are inside them? I could have sworn that was protocol.

I woulda thought they would leave the car running to, shit, I went to walmart yesterday (it was 86 degrees) had to take the dogs, so I took my spare key to run the car and my other set to unlock it when I came back out and left the car running with the air full blast for the dogs, it was so cold in there when I got back in! LOL! I couldn't leave my babies out in the heat!

Careful with that. Set that emergency brake. http://www.pitbull-chat.com/images/smilies/wink.png

wait everyone missed this. He killed a police officer. If you or I shot and killed the dog we would be charge with killing an officer. He was a dog handler that is 101- don't leave a dog in a car!

ive done that so many times lol

That is what the k-9 units do here. We had one come to the camp I worked at to talk to the girls. It was an extremely hot day, and he was an all black GSD. The Policeman kept him in the car with the AC on while he told the girls the job the dog did. Then when he took the dog out, he only let him stay out a short time, because he didn't want him to overheat.

Police said the K-9 officer left the dog unattended in his personal vehicle Police cars are equipped to make sure they do not overheat, thus they can keep them running while in park for long periods of time. This officer was not in his cruiser, but rather his own personal vehicle.