Police dogs dying after being left in cars

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Author: kim pascu

Started: June 8, 2009, 2:59:56 pm

Target: President Obama/The White house

Category: Civil & Human Rights

Supporters:

Goal:

1,000,000

Goal Progress:

Status

Closed

More and more police dogs are dying from heat from being left in police cars. Most of the officers are not charged with any crime.
Why is this happening and why are the officers not held accountable?

If a person leaves their pet dog in a car and it dies from the same heat exposure they are charged for a crime,What makes it ok for the police not to be charged.They are the dogs legal care taker,these dogs depend on them.

Please help to change this by signing my petition we need to get the word out This has to stop !

Headlines I googled 6/9/09:

May 5th 2009
Alameda county ca
ALAMEDA — The district attorney's office has decided not to file charges against an Alameda police K-9 officer whose dog died when he left it unattended for three hours and 15 minutes
while he was on duty.

August 13th 2007
Chandler Az

Police dog left in car for 13 hours dies

September 06, 2007 Acworth Georgia
First, Bandit, a five-year-old Belgian Malinois, died after being left in a patrol car in 109 degree temperatures for over 12 hours. Now, there is another horrible incident of a police dog death’s from being left in a hot car.

Marco's handler, a 13-year veteran of the department, was switching out electronics equipment from one patrol car into another when he was called into police headquarters. The officer, who was on his second shift, forgot the dog was in the car, When he came back to the car, Marco was dead

Friday, May 19, 2006
Stories of dogs dying after being left inside a hot car are everywhere. But it's not often you hear about a police dog dying in the same manner.

Officer John Baker (where have we heard that name before?) left his canine partner Atilla in the car, which is actually a normal procedure.

Cars used by K-9 officers have a temperature monitor that activates the siren and rolls down windows if the car's temperature gets above 85 degrees. But the device wasn't activated in Baker's car.

The officer was suspended, and The Humane Society has begun a criminal investigation.

June 20 San Diego ca

A civil claim was dismissed Tuesday against a San Diego police officer whose canine partner died of heat stroke after he left the dog in his police car with the windows rolled up. seven hours in the vehicle with the windows rolled up. Temperatures that day exceeded 100 degrees.

Police dogs are also vulnerable to death from heat stress, said Russ Hess, executive director of the U.S. Police Canine Association. Every year, police dogs die from being left in squad cars or working in sweltering conditions, he said. As with deaths from encounters with criminals, no agency tracks the number of heat-related deaths, Hess said.

In 2006, a Utah Highway Patrol police dog died after being left alone in a car, even though the air conditioning had been left running as a precaution. The car overheated and began sending dry air through the cruiser.

MULBERRY, Fla. -- The Mulberry Police Department will revamp its police-dog policies after one of its animals died Monday in an overheated vehicle, the police chief said. Sam Diesel, a 2 1/2-year-old male German shepherd, was found dead by his handler about 3:50 p.m. Monday. Unknown to the officer, the air conditioning had failed while she left the dog in the car for more than three hours with the engine running.

September 03, 2008
8 dogs die after being left in hot truck
This happened in Houston, where an animal control officer left the dogs in her truck while she took her lunch break.

October 16th, 2008
The state attorney decision not to prosecute an undercover Coral Springs detective who left his canine partner to die in a boiling cop car has left some animal rights agencies questioning whether or not the punishment fits the crime. The canine was found in the car, which was not running, at 2:45 that afternoon. Preliminary investigation revealed that the vehicle was not running and the dog succumbed to the heat. However, this is not the first time a police officer has left their canine partner in a hot car. In 2007, an Arizona police officer left his patrol dog in his cop car for more than 12 hours in over 100-degree weather while he took a nap, ran errands and ate dinner, according to media reports. The dog died and the officer was acquitted of the charges but barred from working on the K-9 unit.

Under Ca. Penal code 597 Crimes against Animals Felony- Misdemeanor
Lower 1/3 of par (b)
"...whoever having charge or custody of any animal , either as owner or otherwise, subjects any animal to needless suffering or inflicts unnecessary cruelty uopn the animal, or in any way abuses any animal, or fails to provide the animal with proper food,drink,shelter or protection from the weather.....is guilty of a crime punishable as a misdemeanor or as a felony....and fine of not more than $20,000."

Ca.Penal Code 597a
Unnecessary torture ,suffering or cruelty to animal in vehicle.
"Whoever carries or causes to be carried in or uopn any vehicle orotherwise any domestic animal in a cruel or inhumane manner, or knowingly and willfully authorizes or permits it to be subject to unnecessary torture, suffering, or cruelty of any kind is guilty of a misdemeanor....."