Dogs death police force spent £300,000 on kennels
Thursday, 2 July 2009
Print
Email
The police force at the centre of a row after two of its highly-trained dogs died from heatstroke in a car had recently spent £300,000 on new kennels, it was revealed today.
The German Shepherds were found dead in a private car which had been left in the main car park at Nottinghamshire Police's headquarters in Arnold on Tuesday afternoon.
Their police handler, who was on duty, had gone inside sometime before the dogs were found dead.
The handler, who has not been suspended and is now at home on leave, could be prosecuted, the force confirmed.
Today, it emerged that the car park, which is shaded in parts, is only yards away 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 in the future.
"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 also revealed that it had received several calls from members of the public angry at what had happened.
It 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 now 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.
The maximum sentence for causing unnecessary suffering to an animal is six months in prison and a £20,000 fine.
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 deaths of the two dogs. He faced reporters outside the force's HQ shortly after dog handler Pc Tony Crowshaw appeared with Guido, an eight-year-old Belgian Malinois, which is similar to a German Shepherd.
A bouquet of flowers, including lilies and chrysanthemums, was then laid outside the Sherwood Lodge HQ.
Mr Khan said: "This has caused understandable upset and shock to all concerned.
"There are procedures in place and it is important that we go back and review those and make sure that we have complied with them.
"We are taking the matter very seriously and we can understand the upset that this has caused. We will certainly learn any lessons and make sure this never happens again."
On Tuesday, temperatures reached 29.4C (84.9F0 in Nottingham, one of the hottest days in the city so far this year.
A number of animal welfare charities have said it does not take long for a dog left in a baking hot car to die.
The Dogs Trust, the UK's largest dog and welfare charity, said it was "saddened" by the news.
A spokeswoman said: "Whilst the cause of death is still to be determined, the charity would like to remind dog owners and police dog handlers that leaving your dog locked in car can prove fatal, particularly during a heatwave.
"It can take just 20 minutes for a dog to die and temperatures reach over 40 degrees in some vehicles."
A spokesman for the RSPCA added: "I'm sure this isn't the first incident and it won't be the last."
The Independent Police Complaints Commission said it had received a referral from the force and was deciding whether to investigate.
Post a comment
Limit: 500 characters
View all comments that have been posted about this article
Offensive or abusive comments will be removed and your IP address logged and may be used to prevent further submissions. In submitting a comment to the site, you agree to be bound by BelfastTelegraph.co.uk's Terms of Use.
Posts submitted in UPPERCASE letters will be rejected.
I wonder how many members of 'the public' leave their dogs in hot cars causing them suffering/death. I wonder how many are prosecuted for this as well........? I'm sure there are many reported and unreported cases that we never hear about and I doubt hardly any lead to prosecution. No doubt in this case it will lead to prosecution as it's a Police Officer and widely publicised.
Posted by Simon | 08.07.09, 17:58 GMT
I beleive it was totally negligent for an experienced police dog handler to leave these dogs in the car to die.He should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. We expect police offficers to have common sense and they have to pass intelligence test before being accepted into the police.I think something must have gone wrong in their recruitment process to allow a person like this into the police
Posted by jim | 05.07.09, 17:28 GMT
i am a retired police dog handler and feel discusted and disgraced with this incident and i am extreamly saddened at the loss of these two very faithfull animals.
Posted by steve foster | 05.07.09, 00:20 GMT
why is this person not being fined and banned just like the general public would be. he is so wrong for what he did and i hope he feels guilty and is punished accordingly. shame on you !!!
Posted by me | 03.07.09, 04:22 GMT
this is a joke , people are dieing , now i mean human beings , in war torn afganastan and these people leave flowers for a dog where is this country going to bust
Posted by alfie | 03.07.09, 00:56 GMT
How can that councillor say "tragedies do happen" even a 5 year old knows that dogs die in hot cars!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is disgusting and unforgiveable from people that work with dogs.
Posted by Carol | 03.07.09, 00:29 GMT
I cannot express in words the utter disgust and horror i experienced whilst driving to work this morning, hearing about the tragic death of those 2 poor creatures that must have died such an unecessary and horrific death at the hands of the irresponsible person trusted withtheir care. It is not only common sense that dictates that dogs should absolutely never ever be left unattended in a car in a heatwave, even in the shade. It is criminal and should never be allowed to happen again.
Posted by Tracey Kinsella | 02.07.09, 21:58 GMT
I think it is outrageous that this has happened, you don't have to be a genius to work out hot weather and dogs in cars dont go. The owner should be punished as the dogs would of been going through agony before they died, so cruel.
Posted by judith | 02.07.09, 21:33 GMT
This is an absolute disgrace from the Police force.
These are meant to be people who train and look after their dogs.
This is very very sad news indeed.
Posted by Seb | 02.07.09, 21:31 GMT
I do hope the RSPCA will prosecute this careless unthinking PC. When you have an animal, you have a duty of care for it's well-being, this it seems has been completely forgotten. It saddens me to learn of these dogs horrible death, I do hope the law comes down hard on this thoughtless individual.
Posted by N Zymes | 02.07.09, 19:32 GMT
This is just horrifying.
How can any normal thinking person be so careless.
It seems obvious that any one would park the car in the shade, open the windows and leave water in the car for the dogs. Better still remove the dogs from of the car.
Posted by W. West | 02.07.09, 19:26 GMT
"The maximum sentence for causing unnecessary suffering to an animal is six months in prison and a £20,000 fine" - It would set a good precedent to see this applied in this case, so as not to exempt this atrocious and irresponsible behavior from a PC. These dogs would have perhaps saved a human life or helped to prevent an act of crime. This has a tremendously sad and direct impact on the community. Yes, he should be absolutely prosecuted and stripped of any rights to handle dogs in future.
Posted by Lillian | 02.07.09, 18:05 GMT
I think that if the dog handler in question is not prosecuted in the end that there is something very wrong with our Police forces. Even the most stupid person alive knows not to lock there dog in a car in weather like this. It's basic common sense, god help us with police officers like this
Posted by P Parry | 02.07.09, 16:39 GMT
the police in nottm have to youse there own vehicles to get themselves and there dogs to work, but there work vehicle hav aircon that can be left on while the officer is away from the car,
maybe these should be fitted to there private cars
Posted by mark | 02.07.09, 16:38 GMT
IPCC' deciding whether to investigate' ! One person is mainly responsible-that is the policeman who locked the dogs in his car without air. What is all this nonsense PR stuff about expensive Kennels. One should never again trust these idiots with a dog.
Posted by Malachy McAnespie | 02.07.09, 16:33 GMT
I don't agree! - The dog handler should be prosecuted. These dogs are "working" dogs and should be treated accordingly. Never mind spending £300.000 just on the kennels surely some of that money should have been spent on air conditioning in the vehicles.
I wonder what would have happened if it was one of the public! - we would have soon had a knock at the door and thrown in court before the end of the week.
Posted by M | 02.07.09, 16:29 GMT
I am just a pet owner and I know not to leave my dogs in the car (no matter what the weather).
These are highly trained police officers who have been taught the rights and wrongs of dog handling.
There is no excuse for this tragedy and the owner of the car should be prosecuted and fined. (as the general public should be)
Posted by Pet Owner | 02.07.09, 16:21 GMT
There are lots of stupid people in this life that leave dogs in cars in hot weather, but of all, this is unforgivable that someone who is supposed to have such a close bond with a dog should do such a thing.
To people in general please leave your dogs at home when it is so hot, as a dog owner my self, I would have no hesitation in reporting someone for doing such an atrocious thing such as this and would go as far as to break any car window to save a dog suffering. Whatever the consequences!
Posted by P. Stewart | 02.07.09, 15:18 GMT