Posted on 05/28/2009 12:19:38 PM PDT by Chet 99
Thursday, May 28, 2009
(05-27) 14:56 PDT ALAMEDA -- An Alameda police K-9 officer is under investigation after his dog died when he left it in his personal sports utility vehicle for several hours during a training session, authorities said Wednesday.
The officer, whose name was not released, left the 6 1/2-year-old Belgian Malinois inside his SUV while attending a use-of-force training exercise May 5 on Lincoln Avenue, police Lt. Bill Scott said.
The SUV had at least one window down for ventilation, Scott said. It also was not an unusually warm day - according to the National Weather Service, the high temperature that day at nearby Oakland International Airport was 70 degrees.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
anyone else would be charged already.
that just sucks
That doesn't matter.. if the sunlight is hitting the car directly, it will quickly turn into an oven of sorts.
Stupid. Leave your dog at home...especially when taxpayers are paying for it’s upkeep and training.
Ecaxtly.
Godspeed to the dog....he didn’t deserve that.
This is the equivalent of leaving your gun in the bathroom stall. Absolutely no excuse.
Sad. Dogs don’t cool as efficiently as people do. I’m surprised they didn’t know that tho.
that being said, what's with you and dogs?
Gentlemen of the jury: The best friend a man has in this world may turn against him and become his enemy. His son or daughter that he has reared with loving care may prove ungrateful. Those who are nearest and dearest to us, those whom we trust with our happiness and our good name, may become traitors to their faith. The money that a man has, he may lose. It flies away from him, perhaps when he needs it the most. A man’s reputation may be sacrificed in a moment of ill-considered action. The people who are prone to fall on their knees to do us honor when success is with us may be the first to throw the stone of malice when failure settles its cloud upon our heads. The one absolutely unselfish friend that a man can have in this selfish world, the one that never deserts him and the one that never proves ungrateful or treacherous is his dog.
Gentleman of the jury: A man’s dog stands by him in prosperity and in poverty, in health and in sickness. He will sleep on the cold ground, where the wintry winds blow and the snow drives fiercely, if only he may be near his master’s side. He will kiss the hand that has no food to offer, he will lick the wounds and sores that come in encounters with the roughness of the world. He guards the sleep of his pauper master as if he were a prince. When all other friends desert, he remains. When riches take wings and reputation falls to pieces, he is as constant in his love as the sun in its journey through the heavens.
If fortune drives the master forth an outcast in the world, friendless and homeless, the faithful dog asks no higher privilege than that of accompanying him to guard against danger, to fight against his enemies, and when the last scene of all comes, and death takes the master in its embrace and his body is laid away in the cold ground, no matter if all other friends pursue their way, there by his graveside will the noble dog be found, his head between his paws, his eyes sad but open in alert watchfulness, faithful and true even to death.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Graham_Vest
Fine looking breed.
After reading the article, I suppose it is possible the dog died of something other than overheating (altho that is still my bet).
I had a dog overheat once playing ball on a not terribly hot spring day. She was one of those retrievers who would not quit and my son didn’t realize she would not stop when she got too hot. She collapsed and he called my husband (I was at work) who said to hose her down until he got there. She was ok after awhile, but it was scary. BTW she’s still alive and still crazy to retrieve.
It is evil to send human being to prison over a dog.
If it was an equipped K9 car, it should have had an automatic cooling unit built in.
If not, then that’s just dumb (and criminal).
Poor dog.
Time for an eye for an eye. Let the officer sit a closed car for a while.
This is sad and I don’t understand how it happened. I work around dog handlers and they carry portable kennels that can easily be set up in the shade and their vehicles have cages that allow the doors and windows to be open while dog remains caged. I have to wonder why the dog was kept in the officer’s POV.
It may turn out to be a coincidence and being in the vehicle/getting overheated had nothing to do with the dog’s death. That may be jumping to a conclusion that is not there. I have had people bitch me out when I leave my dog in a vehicle in the winter- and I am very careful not to do so if there is any chance it will be too hot or too cold. Some now think it is cruelty to ever leave a dog in a vehicle. I think it takes common sense and my dog enjoys going to town with me so I take her when I can. The fact is I don’t take her often because if the weather is not right for it, I leave her at home. I have to say I would never leave an animal in a vehicle for hours no matter what the weather is like. My limit is minutes- never hours.
I agree with you. I don’t believe deliberate animal cruelty should be legal.
However, to jail a human being over the accidental death of any animal, however beloved, is elevating animals too high.
We kill and eat them. We use them for labor. They are not people.
It may have been 70 degrees outside but if you are driving a dark colored vehicle the temperature inside can easily reach 100 degrees and more!
This happens because the sun comes through the window and magnifies the intensity of the sun. This heats up all objects in the car and the heat is further radiated or heated by reflecting off all other materials in the car.
This was an unconscionable act and should rightly be punished. Just as a citizen would be. Or then again, that is the problem.
The police think of themselves as a separate class with special powers. Many of which are they exempt from laws which everyone else is ticketed for and imprisoned for.
Just because you are a policeman does not exempt you from exercising your intellect and humanity. Nor does it place you above the law.
There is nothing to review in this matter. He should be arrested and charged.
Period.
thank you. that’s exactly why this is so very sad
http://blog.oregonlive.com/nwheadlines/2009/05/post_202.html
Hmmm,is justice blind? This guy killed and got life on a three strikes deal.
not blind, police are openly given special treatment and rights
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