A Tennessee prison guard was arrested for animal cruelty last week after leaving his service dog in the car for almost five hours with the windows rolled up and the air conditioner turned off.
Robert Strickland also left no water for Kilo, his K9 partner, as temperatures outside soared to 88 degrees, meaning that temperatures inside the vehicle reached 130 degrees – hot enough to cause hyperthermia in mammals, causing organ failure and death.
Strickland is a guard at the Hardeman County Correctional Facility, a privately owned minimum security prison outside Memphis.
Strickland arrived at the prison for training at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, but did not check on Kilo until 1 p.m, finding Kilo unresponsive and not breathing, according to WBBJ.
Strickland said he attempted CPR but was unsuccessful. He admitted to police that he had left the dog in the car, but said it was accidental. Strickland was charged with animal cruelty for failing to provide a safe environment in the death of his service animal.
The jail is run by Corrections Corporation of America, is a for profit privately run company, who runs many of the jails throughout the country, including in Florida where a warden snatched a camera out of the hands of PINAC reporter Jeff Gray for recording outside the prison.
While it’s not rare for law enforcement officers to kill their service dogs by leaving them in the car unattended with the windows rolled up and the air conditioner turned off, it is rare to see them criminally charged for these actions.
Last year, at least ten police dogs were killed in this manner with one officer from Ohio convicted, but he remains on the job after paying a $500 fine.
Another officer from Kissimmee, Florida named Gerardo Bellido received a 160-hour suspension, taken out of his accrued vacation time, after he admitted to lying, claiming he left his service dog in an air-conditioned car when the air conditioner was turned off.
Then there was Hialeah police officer Nelson Enriquez who was cleared of criminal charges after leaving two service dogs in his car while he napped inside his home, prompting South Florida Sun Sentinel columnist Michael Mayo to question whether the law was bent to favor the cop.
Incidents like these raise questions about the training of officers who regularly charge ordinary citizens with animal cruelty after leaving their dog in a car. When K9 officers are trained to spend every moment with their service animal and regularly are not charged with a crime. Moreover, offenders who injury or kill a K9 during arrest are charged with harsh offenses for felony assault on a law enforcement officer.
South Florida Cop Who Left Police Dogs to Die in Heated Car Won’t be Charged
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