A Tennessee deputy is accused of leaving a K-9 without water for 36 hours in an outdoor kennel, where the patrol dog was discovered dead.
The Madison County Sheriff’s Office has launched internal and criminal investigations into the K-9’s “unfortunate and preventable death,” Madison County Sheriff Julian Wiser said during a Friday, September 25, news conference.
The police dog, a 2-year-old German Shepherd named Bart, was found dead in the kennel on September 19, when the heat index had reached around 101 degrees, according to Wiser.
The sheriff’s office learned Bart’s handler “had not been home for 36 hours prior to the discovery of K9 Bart,” adding that a supervisor discovered the dog had no access to water during that time.
“The following morning, the K9 supervisor transported K9 Bart to one of the top veterinarian university programs in the state of Mississippi,” Wiser shared.
A necropsy performed by a veterinarian confirmed Bart died of heatstroke “due to severe hydration,” he added.
The handler was placed on leave due to the pending investigation, then later resigned from the sheriff’s office. The name of the dog’s handler wasn’t mentioned during the news conference.
The district attorney’s office was notified of the circumstances of the K-9’s death, according to Wiser.
“I can assure the community that a thorough investigation will be completed and that the findings will be forwarded to the district attorney’s office,” Wiser said.
He declined to answer questions due to the active internal and criminal investigations.
As a patrol dog, Wiser said Bart was trained in “criminal apprehension, tracking, article searches, and narcotics detection work.”
The sheriff said during the news conference that he was a former K-9 handler earlier in his law enforcement career.
He described Bart’s death as “very sad and unfortunate.”
“We depend on our K-9s to help keep our community safe and our law enforcement officers, but our K-9s depend on us to take care of them,” Wiser added.
In North Carolina, a bomb detection K-9 with Pit County Sheriff’s Office died after the dog had been inside a hot car on June 11, according to WITN-TV. The outside temperature had reached 99 degrees that day.
The death of the K-9, named Chilli, was investigated and determined to be an accident.
