Policeman faces jail as heat kills dogs

Published on Thursday 2 July 2009 20:36

A POLICE officer could face up to six months in jail after his two German shepherd dogs died from heatstroke in a car.

The dogs were found in a private car left outside Nottinghamshire Police's headquarters on Tuesday afternoon.

The police dogs' handler, who was on duty, had gone inside some time before the dogs were found dead.

The force confirmed that the handler, who has not been suspended and is now at home on leave, could be prosecuted, facing a maximum sentence for causing unnecessary suffering to an animal of six months in prison and a 20,000 fine.

Yesterday it emerged that the car park, which is shaded in parts, is only yards from the force's new kennels.

They were recently built at a cost of 300,000 and have tiled floors and state-of-the-art heaters for the winter.

Councillor John Clarke, chairman of Nottinghamshire Police Authority, said: "I think there will be some retribution for this at some point.

"But I know the team will be mortified. It's a very close-knit team.

"It's tragic when you consider we have spent hundreds of thousands of pounds on kennels. Unfortunately tragedies do happen."

The force now has 24 dogs and 35 staff in the section, which is used to trace drugs, police major events and track down criminals on the run.

Although Nottinghamshire Police has its own dog-breeding programme, it is thought that the German shepherds had been donated by a breeder for public service.

It takes nine weeks of intensive training and costs more than 7,000 before a police dog can go out on patrol.

In most cases police dogs live with their handlers. The dog handler at the centre of the RSPCA inquiry into what happened will be questioned by inspectors from the charity next week.

Chief Superintendent Ak Khan said the force was upset by the death of the two dogs.

Earlier this week the Scottish SPCA said two animals had been found dead in the same car. A separate incident in the city was also being investigated after an animal was found in similar circumstances in another car.

&#149 A 17-year-old boy has died while swimming in a reservoir, police said yesterday. West Yorkshire Police were called to Widdop Reservoir, near Hebden Bridge, on Wednesday afternoon following concerns about a teenager who had disappeared as he was swimming with friends.