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Georgia Police K-9 Dies In Hot Car After Being Trapped For 10 Hours

By Lindsay McCane
Published on: 17:20 PST, Jul 18, 2015

A Georgia police K-9 died on Thursday, July 16, after being trapped inside a hot car for nearly 10 hours.

Conyers Police Department spokeswoman Kim Lucas said the K-9, a five-year-old bloodhound named Zane, was discovered by his human handler dead in his vehicle at his residence in Rockdale County, Georgia, according to My Fox 8.

“The Conyers Police Department regretfully announces the loss of police K9, Zane, after he was found deceased in his handler’s patrol car Thursday evening, at approximately 5:00 p.m., at the handler’s residence in Rockdale County, Georgia,” the police department wrote in a statement on their Facebook page.

Zane had worked for the police department as a tracking dog for four years, three of them being with his current handler, Cpl. Jerahmy Williams.

According to Lucas, Williams had returned home from his 12-hour shift, and because he was not feeling well, immediately went to bed and fell asleep. It wasn’t until he was getting ready to leave for work the next day that he discovered Zane’s body in his SUV, which he had parked in the driveway of his residence.

Williams said he thought he had taken Zane to the kennel, but was apparently mistaken, leaving Zane trapped inside the hot car for nearly 10 hours, which eventually left him with nothing to do but succumb to the heat.

Upon finding the K-9’s body, Williams immediately contacted his supervisor to report what had happened. The police then responded to his home to investigate the situation.

“He [Williams] truly, truly loves that dog. And for him to know that it was his actions that caused the dog to perish, its going to be difficult for him to deal with… We are committed to the care and proper treatment of our working K-9s. We are mourning the loss of our own,” Police Chief Gene Wilson said, according to CNN.

On Friday, July 17, during a press conference, Wilson said that the department is looking into a device to help protect their K-9 officers. “It’s like a kill switch for the vehicle,” Lucas said. “A person will have to physically go to the rear of the vehicle and see the dog before turning off the ignition.”

Williams’ vehicle was actually equipped with a similar device known as a “Hot-N-Pop,” which is an alarm that sounds to alert the officer of the car’s escalating temperature and would then roll the windows down for the canine. Unfortunately, the device was not working because the ignition had been turned off.

While Williams’ fate with the department in undetermined, he is currently on administrative leave with pay until the investigation ends. The officer could be facing potential criminal charges that include reckless conduct and cruelty to animals, among other things.

[Photo via Twitter]

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