ktlight
27th June 2011, 17:41
FYI:
Two police dogs - one of them just a puppy - have died after being left in a locked car with the windows shut as temperatures soared yesterday.
An inquiry has been launched by Scotland Yard after the two animals were found inside a private vehicle belonging to a Met police officer.
The dying Belgian Malinois and German Shepherd were discovered at the Met's dog training centre in Keston, Kent, by a member of staff as temperatures reached 29C.
Two police dogs - one just a puppy - died after being left in a locked car in hot weather yesterday (file picture)
The dying Belgian Malinois and German Shepherd were discovered at the Met's dog training centre in Keston, Kent, by a member of staff as temperatures reached 29C (file pictures)
The animals were rushed to a vet after staff smashed the car's windows but they later died.
The officer, in whose car the animals were found, worked for Central Operations which includes police dog handlers.
A source told The Sun: 'It was a horrible way to die. They literally boiled to death.
More...
Trains delayed because there's too much SUN on the tracks (and even the pavements are melting)
'Everyone is terribly upset about what has happened.'
The Met’s Directorate of Professional Standards, the Independent Police Complaints Commission and the RSPCA have been informed about the deaths.
Sources said an internal inquiry would consider a possible criminal prosecution.
PC Mark Johnson was given a six-month conditional discharge last year after leaving his two German Shepherds to die in the back of his car
The officer involved was said to be 'distraught' at their deaths.
The Met refused to comment on whether or not he was a dog handler or why the dogs were left in the car.
The tragedy comes after a Nottinghamshire police officer was prosecuted last year when two German Shepherds died in the back of his sweltering car.
PC Mark Johnson escaped prison and was handed a six-month conditional discharge.
The 40-year-old returned to the force but is no longer working as a dog handler and was assigned to duties in south Nottinghamshire as an ordinary response officer
During his trial at Nottingham Magistrates' Court on February 22, the judge was told PC Johnson suffered from depression and obsessive compulsive disorder.
This led to him forgetting that he had left the dogs in his car which was parked at Nottinghamshire Police's Sherwood Lodge headquarters near Arnold on June 30 of 2009, the court heard.
During PC Johnson's February trial, the court heard he arrived at work with 18-month-old Jay-Jay and Jet, seven, on one of the hottest days of last year where temperatures peaked at nearly 30C.
He planned to move the two Alsatians into an air-conditioned police car but he got distracted and set about attending meetings and completing his paperwork.
Seven hours later, after a meeting with a sergeant about his mental health problems, the police officer remembered he had left them in the back of his own car and rushed out to find them dead.
The dogs suffered severe heatstroke and would have gone through 'excruciating pain' before they died of kidney failure and cerebral haemorrhage, the trial was told.
PC Johnson, a married father-of-one who has nearly 18 years' service, was suspended at the time of his trial. Police chiefs said following the verdict he would face an internal disciplinary panel.
Nottinghamshire Police was also severely criticised by district judge Tim Devas after it emerged PC Johnson was suffering from depression and OCD but found it difficult to get help.
His illness meant he simply forgot to move his dogs from his own black Ford Mondeo Estate, it was claimed.
He also regularly broke down in tears and was afraid to admit he might have a problem because he believed it could see him transferred off the dog section.
Sentencing PC Johnson, Mr Devas said: 'I have no doubt that had PC Johnson received the help he needed then he wouldn't be standing before me here today.'
Nottinghamshire Police received thousands of emails and calls from dog lovers after the case first hit the headlines last year.
It has since enforced a number of changes.
All dogs must be kept in kennels whilst at Sherwood Lodge and handlers have been given key fobs which alert them to any change in their car's temperature.
PC Johnson is currently paying off £2,500, a contribution towards the costs of the RSPCA's prosecution. But he has not been banned from keeping animals.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2008691/Two-police-dogs-bake-death-car-temperatures-soar-31-degrees.html
Two police dogs - one of them just a puppy - have died after being left in a locked car with the windows shut as temperatures soared yesterday.
An inquiry has been launched by Scotland Yard after the two animals were found inside a private vehicle belonging to a Met police officer.
The dying Belgian Malinois and German Shepherd were discovered at the Met's dog training centre in Keston, Kent, by a member of staff as temperatures reached 29C.
Two police dogs - one just a puppy - died after being left in a locked car in hot weather yesterday (file picture)
The dying Belgian Malinois and German Shepherd were discovered at the Met's dog training centre in Keston, Kent, by a member of staff as temperatures reached 29C (file pictures)
The animals were rushed to a vet after staff smashed the car's windows but they later died.
The officer, in whose car the animals were found, worked for Central Operations which includes police dog handlers.
A source told The Sun: 'It was a horrible way to die. They literally boiled to death.
More...
Trains delayed because there's too much SUN on the tracks (and even the pavements are melting)
'Everyone is terribly upset about what has happened.'
The Met’s Directorate of Professional Standards, the Independent Police Complaints Commission and the RSPCA have been informed about the deaths.
Sources said an internal inquiry would consider a possible criminal prosecution.
PC Mark Johnson was given a six-month conditional discharge last year after leaving his two German Shepherds to die in the back of his car
The officer involved was said to be 'distraught' at their deaths.
The Met refused to comment on whether or not he was a dog handler or why the dogs were left in the car.
The tragedy comes after a Nottinghamshire police officer was prosecuted last year when two German Shepherds died in the back of his sweltering car.
PC Mark Johnson escaped prison and was handed a six-month conditional discharge.
The 40-year-old returned to the force but is no longer working as a dog handler and was assigned to duties in south Nottinghamshire as an ordinary response officer
During his trial at Nottingham Magistrates' Court on February 22, the judge was told PC Johnson suffered from depression and obsessive compulsive disorder.
This led to him forgetting that he had left the dogs in his car which was parked at Nottinghamshire Police's Sherwood Lodge headquarters near Arnold on June 30 of 2009, the court heard.
During PC Johnson's February trial, the court heard he arrived at work with 18-month-old Jay-Jay and Jet, seven, on one of the hottest days of last year where temperatures peaked at nearly 30C.
He planned to move the two Alsatians into an air-conditioned police car but he got distracted and set about attending meetings and completing his paperwork.
Seven hours later, after a meeting with a sergeant about his mental health problems, the police officer remembered he had left them in the back of his own car and rushed out to find them dead.
The dogs suffered severe heatstroke and would have gone through 'excruciating pain' before they died of kidney failure and cerebral haemorrhage, the trial was told.
PC Johnson, a married father-of-one who has nearly 18 years' service, was suspended at the time of his trial. Police chiefs said following the verdict he would face an internal disciplinary panel.
Nottinghamshire Police was also severely criticised by district judge Tim Devas after it emerged PC Johnson was suffering from depression and OCD but found it difficult to get help.
His illness meant he simply forgot to move his dogs from his own black Ford Mondeo Estate, it was claimed.
He also regularly broke down in tears and was afraid to admit he might have a problem because he believed it could see him transferred off the dog section.
Sentencing PC Johnson, Mr Devas said: 'I have no doubt that had PC Johnson received the help he needed then he wouldn't be standing before me here today.'
Nottinghamshire Police received thousands of emails and calls from dog lovers after the case first hit the headlines last year.
It has since enforced a number of changes.
All dogs must be kept in kennels whilst at Sherwood Lodge and handlers have been given key fobs which alert them to any change in their car's temperature.
PC Johnson is currently paying off £2,500, a contribution towards the costs of the RSPCA's prosecution. But he has not been banned from keeping animals.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2008691/Two-police-dogs-bake-death-car-temperatures-soar-31-degrees.html