GoldenOldie Posted February 22, 2010 Report Share Posted February 22, 2010 Just heard on the early evening news that the police dog handler who left his 2 dogs in his own car on the hottest day of the year 2009, has been convicted of animal cruelty.. He apparently left the GSDs in the car meaning to transfer them to the air conditioned police vehicle but got caught up in work. 6 months suspended sentence and £2,000 fine. Enough? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rumpole Posted February 22, 2010 Report Share Posted February 22, 2010 no not nearly enough Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura_E Posted February 22, 2010 Report Share Posted February 22, 2010 I saw it on the news tonight too and they are saying that he was suffering from a mental illness at the time, but surely if that was the case he should have been signed off work or at least placed on light duties. I don't even want to think about the pain and suffering those poor animals had to endure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Posted February 22, 2010 Report Share Posted February 22, 2010 I would imagine he got off more lightly than the Security Guard recently convicted of a similar offence because of his apparent illness. He was given a 6 month conditional discharge & £2500 fine / costs (?) http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/nottinghamshire/8528878.stm News earlier in the day suggested he was claiming depression & stress, made mention of IPCC complaints etc but the RSPCA argued he was apparently considered fit enough for work! It may yet end up costing him his job (perhaps getting pensioned off?) as a statement on the Nottinghamshire Police website suggests both that their have been improved procedures put in place and internal disciplinary processes will now follow. http://www.nottinghamshire.police.uk/newsandevents/news/2010/february/22/dog_handler_convicted/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillyMalc Posted February 22, 2010 Report Share Posted February 22, 2010 So the guy was suffering from depression and OCD, and as a result of that was unable to concentrate and prioritise! And such a person is not only entrusted with the lives of 2 dogs but also with "upholding the law and protecting the law abiding public"?????? You've GOT to be joking!!! The sentence is not anywhere near enough to reflect the suffering that he has caused to those poor dogs, but I also would want to see that force charged for allowing someone, who is obviously seriously mentally ill, to carry out a job that is as important as his! What dickheads! RIP poor dogs, no more suffering ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Posted February 23, 2010 Report Share Posted February 23, 2010 I didn't want to post too much about it earlier as I couldn't find an ITV news link to support what I'd heard earlier - that he'd already had several complaints lodged against him with the IPCC - but here it is in The Mail saying he'd suggested they were out to get him. Perhaps little wonder that his superiors don't seem overly keen to support him in their own statement http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1252893/PC-left-dogs-die-baking-car-seven-hours.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoldenOldie Posted February 23, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 23, 2010 I've just been getting more and more angry reading and hearing more details of this case. If the chronology of the dogs' last hours was as reported and the PC was 'shocked' to find his dogs dead in his car having presumably forgotten they had not been transferred to a police van by himself, was he in a fit mental state to be dealing with the public in his role as a police officer in the first place, which is, of course, a matter for his superiors to answer to. From the Mail article it appears they were left for 3 hours before he remembered them, was distracted again and they were then left another 4 hours to die in agony. Where was the car parked? Did no other officer see the dogs in the car at any time as this was on police premises?Did noone hear the dogs bark at any time, I find it hard to believe they would not have been vocal at all. Irrespective of the heat they would have needed to be let out of the car for a comfort break anyway. This man will have to live with this for the rest of his life which will be a major punishment in itself, but it still seems little recompense for causing the death of the dogs. This man's working life revolved around his dogs and therefore one would imagine (not unrealistically) that their basic welfare would be second nature to him, no matter how distracted. Were any of his previous investigations to do with the dogs I wonder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Posted February 23, 2010 Report Share Posted February 23, 2010 It's the first I've heard mention of any other dog but incredibly, according to todays Sun, he actually took a third dog (a Labrador sniffer dog) to work that morning and did put him into Police Kennels. Surely this makes the rest of his defence look dubious? and just look at the photos of the two Gsd's. Still looking wet with sweat, probably hours after his death? http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/2864318/Let-offcop-Mark-Johnson-who-left-alsatian-dogs-to-bake.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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