UK Police Dogs Die In Hot Car, Officer Reportedly Attempts Suicide
June 29, 2011 in Endangerment, Inhumane Practices, Law Enforcement, News, Tragedy, Working Dogs, World
File Photo: Belgian Malinois on left, German Shepherd on right.
A London, England Metropolitan Police dog handler has reportedly tried to kill himself after two police dogs he left in the back of his car on one of the hottest days of the year died.
British media is reporting that Sergeant Ian Craven jumped from a colleague’s vehicle and later slashed his wrists when he learned that the two dogs had died.
The two dogs, a Belgian Malinois named Chay and a five-month-old German Shepherd puppy named Milly, died Sunday after Craven allegedly left the animals in the back of an unventilated car at the police force’s dog training center for an unspecified amount of time.
Temperatures in London on Sunday reached 29 C. The temperature inside a car can reach as high was 47 C within an hour when the outside temperature is just 22 C, according to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
The RSPCA stated that officers were somehow made aware that the two dogs were in the back of the vehicle during the day. They smashed the windows, pulled the animals out and quickly doused them with water. But by the time the dogs were taken to a vet, they had died.
“Two dogs have died that shouldn’t have,” said Police Commander Bob Broadhurst.
Craven, 49, is now the subject of an investigation led by the RSPCA. He could face animal cruelty charges. Under Britain’s Animal Welfare Act, pet owners are legally obligated to provide good care for their animals.
Sadly, this is the second time the officer — a 30-year veteran of the force — is alleged to have left animals to die in the backseat of his car. In 2004, he was reprimanded for allegedly leaving a Spaniel in a baking-hot car on a July day. That dog also died.
Jan Creamer, chief executive of Animal Defenders International, said she feels for the officer in question and understands that the ordeal was “hugely traumatic,” but emphasized that the “golden rule” for dog owners is to never leave the animals in hot cars.
“While we do not doubt that this was a tragic accident, we would have thought that the dog unit should be setting an example to others, and we would question why dogs were in the car at all as there are kenneling facilities at the training center,” Creamer said.
“Surely it should have been standard operating procedures to put the dogs in kennels on hot days.”
Our hearts and prayers go out to the Stinchcomb family.
She loved animals and died trying to save one. And now the man who killed her and ran away from the scene, has been arrested.
