A Georgia K-9 police dog has died after a sergeant left him inside of a hot patrol vehicle for several hours and left a device that warns about the vehicle’s overheating unplugged.
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The incident occurred on May 14 after Sgt. William Barkley worked overnight in Monroe County and left K-9 officer Khan asleep in the police vehicle. Sheriff Brad Freeman said Barkley left the vehicle in the driveway of his home and went inside to finish up reports instead of taking the four-year-old Belgian Malinois to his pen in the yard. Freeman added that a device that alerts Barkley if the temperature gets too hot in the car but he unplugged it since he was going to have the next three days off. Hours later, Barkley discovered Khan was unresponsive in the vehicle.
‘There were no health issues with the dog. Dog was healthy. Although it wasn’t a hot day, the temperature was around 79 that day. A lot of people don’t realize it might be 79 outside, which is not hot for us, but in the car, it can go up 20 degrees. It could be 90+ degrees in that car. Therefore, no one can handle that — human or animal,’ Freeman explained.
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Barkley was demoted to deputy for his negligence and was placed to perform duties at the local jail. He was also suspended without pay for five days. Khan’s death was ruled as an accident after an internal affairs investigation.