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| K9 Beny, killed by his handler, who left him to die in hot car Montville OH Police Department |
Police dogs have many different jobs, but one thing most of them have in common is that they are assigned a human police officer as their handler, caretaker and partner. Officers who work in K9 units train their dogs and are responsible for the animal’s well being, or at least they are supposed to be.
However, in just the past six months at least four police working dogs have died from heat stroke after their partners abandoned them in a locked car. Adding insult to injury, in most cases, the officers responsible for the dog’s deaths receive little to no punishment for their gross negligence.
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| K9 Harley died inside a hot police car Des Moines Iowa Police Department |
The most recent death occurred when Sgt. Brett Harrison, an officer from Montville Township, Ohio, left Benny, his 2-year-old German Shepherd, in a police cruiser for more than four hours on a hot day with the windows rolled up.
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| Cop who let K9 partner, Jeg, cook to death in car given sweetheart deal |
Harrison said the death was an accident and though the left the cruiser on. Harrison’s superiors have supported him, saying they believe it was an accident. Harrison was suspended for two weeks without pay and lost 40 hours of vacation time.
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| K9 Serge "forgotten" to die inside a police car Camden NJ Police Department |
Police Chief Terry Grice said Harrison will be reassigned, but he will not be given another police dog. The Medina County Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals was assigned to review Harrison’s case and have the authority to decide if Harrison will face criminal charges.
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| Sgt. Brett Harrison and K9 Officer Beny - before he killed him (Photo: Montville Police Department, Facebook) |
While it is great that the society for prevention of cruelty to animals is reviewing the case, the department should have levied heavier punishment against Harrison in the first place.
Accident or not, Harrison’s gross negligence led to an animal suffering a horrible death. At the very least Harrison should have his badge taken away. After all, if he can’t be trusted with the life of a dog, he can’t be trusted with the lives of American citizens.
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| K9 "Sparacus", from Georgia, was left to die inside a boiling hot police car |
However, Harrison’s case is not an exception. Other police dogs have died in similar manners this year as well. In September, Deputy Kevin Williams of Duplin County, North Carolina, received a phone call and learned one of his children was sick and he needed to be picked up.
Williams left his 5-year-old Belgian Shepherd, Kela, in his car overnight and found his K9 partner dead the next morning. Williams was never charged but was reassigned to serve as a bailiff.
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| K9 Zak left to die in hot police car Mercer County OH Sheriff's Office |
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| Zachary Miller left his K9 partner Nyx to cook to death in a boiling hot patrol car |
In July, Nyx, a black Labrador trained to locate narcotics, died when Officer Zachary Miller of Mills, Wyo., left him in a vehicle to go inside the police department, where dogs are allowed. Miller left his vehicle on but didn’t turn the air conditioning on and left the windows rolled up. Miller was suspended without pay for one week.
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| Suspended from work for 60 days was the punishment to the deputy who let K9 partner Tank cook to death in car |
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| K9 Tank got a life sentence |
Harrison could very well face criminal charges but it seems unlikely based off the trend from the other recent cases similar to his, and that is outrageous. Assuming that all of these officers told the truth and the K9 deaths were an accident, they should still be held accountable for their gross negligence and face far worse punishment than a short suspension.
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| Harris County tight-lipped on which K9 they killed |
Only 16 states specifically prohibit locking dogs in a vehicle, including Arizona and North Carolina, but there are many city and county ordinances that regulate this behavior to at least some degree.
Even in the absence of a specific state or local law, people can still be punished for leaving their animals in a confined vehicle. For example, in the 1985 Texas case of Lopez v. State, the defendant left his dog in a car on a hot day and was convicted under the state’s animal cruelty laws, even though the dog lived. The defendant was sentenced to five days in jail, a $50 fine and six months probation, and the dog didn’t die.
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| K9 Bandit killed by his handler |
Yet these officers got a slap on the wrist when their negligence lead to the deaths of police working dogs. These dogs were paid for and owned by the taxpayers and were charged with keeping the public and their human partner safe.
In many areas, if a suspect harms a police dog, they can be charged with assaulting an officer, and police dog handlers should be held to the same standard. These officers should be charged with abandoning their fellow officer and leaving them to die of exposure.
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| Perry County Missouri destroyed the dead K9's body so a necropsy couldn't be done, which prevented DA's from charging the cop who killed him |
Some may argue that situations like this aren’t a big deal since the victims are dogs, and that the officers can be excused for their negligence because dog’s lives aren’t as important as human’s lives are. Others might say that some of these officers did receive some form of punishment and, since every case is different, we should trust that each individual police department handled their situation appropriately.
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| Bexar County deputy killed 2 K9s |
But it doesn’t matter how much someone values a dog’s life compared to a human’s life because there is a bigger picture. Animal cruelty laws exist regardless of personal opinions.
The previously mentioned officers could have actually ticketed or arrested people for animal cruelty violations themselves and they should be held to the same standard as the public. If anything, they should be held to a higher standard.
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| K9 Justice, cooked to death in police car by his partner Edmond OK Police Dept |
The taxpayers owned these dogs. The K9 officers served and protected taxpayer communities and were abandoned to die an awful and painful death.
But even if that isn’t enough, trained police officers are responsible for these deaths. Police officers who are entrusted to enforce laws and protect our communities through any means necessary up to and including deadly force were so negligent and absent-minded that they forgot about their abandoned partner locked in a hot vehicle.
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| K9 Luna cooked in a patrol car |
Every one of these officers gave a statement that expressed how much they loved and cared for their animal. How can Americans trust their police officers to act responsibly and cautiously if the officer can’t even remember not to lock their beloved K9 partner in a hot car?
The simple fact of the matter is that these officers can’t be trusted to patrol our communities, armed with deadly weapons, and act responsibly under pressure.
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| K-9 Primo tore at the seats, desperately trying to escape before dying |
No matter how good of a person they may be, what their intention was, or how sorry they are, they have proven they can’t be trusted with other’s lives, dog or human. Every state’s animal cruelty laws should determine these officers’ criminal punishments, but none of them should be wearing a badge and a uniform anymore.
(The Baylor Lariat - Oct 13, 2014)
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