By MATT PIKE
St. Joseph Post
ANDREW COUNTY, Missouri —A police lieutenant with the Savannah, Missouri Police Department has been charged in the death of K9 Horus.
The Missouri Attorney General's office has charged officer Daniel Zeigler with animal abuse following an investigation by the Missouri Highway Patrol on the case.
Reports say that Horus died in mid June from heat exposure after being left in a police vehicle overnight. The car has a safety feature which is designed to roll down the windows and sound the horn if temperatures reach 90 degrees, but the Patrols report shows the system had been turned off. The high temperature that day reached 88 degrees.
A misdemeanor can include up to one year in jail, a fine of up to $2,000, or both.
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KANSAS CITY (AP) — Residents of a small western Missouri town are saddened and angered after a police dog died in a hot car.
The dog named Horus died June 20 following an overnight shift, Police Chief David Vincent said. In a Facebook posting on Wednesday, Vincent said he couldn't discuss the circumstances of the dog's death while the Missouri State Highway Patrol conducts an investigation.
“Horus was a great asset to our department and the community,” Vincent wrote. “I trusted this K9 around my grandchildren and they adored him. I am upset and angry about what happened to Horus as everyone else is.”
Several residents of the town of 5,000 residents that sits about an hour's drive north of Kansas City posted that the person responsible for the dog's death should face criminal charges.
“The officer should be charged,” one man wrote. “Just as any member of the public would be if they had caused the dog’s death. No excuse at all.”
For now, Horus is buried in an unmarked gravesite. In another post, Vincent said an anonymous donor is buying a headstone. Vincent said city staff will maintain the site that will be “a place of honor.”