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AIBU?

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Original poster

Yet MORE Police Dogs Die In Hot Car.

51 replies

Kvetch · 27/06/2011 15:42

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-13932187

Not for the first time has this happened. Whoever was supposedly "caring" for this GSD pup and Malinois dog should have known better. There's absolutely no excuse for this cruel negligence - I hope that the criminal is jailed for a very long time.

OP posts:
Tchootnika · 27/06/2011 18:02

"he should be punished to the full extent of the law and he probably will be and more because he is a police officer and an example will need to be made of him"
Because it's well known that there's a really high standard of behaviour for police officers, right? Hmm

Original poster
Kvetch · 27/06/2011 18:04

Hysterical to want justice for two helpless creatures who would have suffered absolutely excruciating pain as they died, involving acute liver failure and brain damage?

Hysterical in the knowledge that the last incompetent bastard to do this, in 2009, got away with a rap across the knuckles and has not been banned from keeping animals?

Would we be hysterical if this were a baby and a child we were speaking of instead of a puppy and an older dog? Are you going to tell me that the dogs suffered less pain and distress than a baby and child?

OP posts:
HidinginaHardHat · 27/06/2011 18:08

If it were a baby or a child you'd have every right to be hysterical about it but baying for blood and forming a pitchfork weilding mob isn't going to help anyone.

It's British hysteria and animals first at its finest.

I've heard of people who have reported animals to the RSPCA before they've reported children to social services - both belonging to the same family.

It is a ghastly way to die, I am not denying this fact one bit so please don't do the emotional blackmailing thing on me because it really will not work.

Original poster
Kvetch · 27/06/2011 18:15

"If it were a baby or a child you'd have every right to be hysterical about it... "

We have just as much right to be "hysterical" about it happening to a puppy and a dog.

Animals first? Here, yes. For other posters, or at least 99.5% of them, I doubt it. So please don't come that one with me.

If a prosecution goes ahead (and I hope it does) I pray to god the person responsible for killing these dogs doesn't claim depression and having been given a hard time at work in the past as a cop-out for their uselessness just as the last incompetent did.

And I hope very much that they will never be allowed to hold a position of responsibility or own an animal again, and that they reflect on that for a good few years in a prison cell. Sadly, so shitty is our legal system none of this will happen.

OP posts:
catgirl1976 · 27/06/2011 18:16

Horrible. Made me cry.

Bast · 27/06/2011 18:36

It was not an accident!!

How ridiculous!

It was absolute negligence, if not murder! The outcome was entirely predictable - no accident.

NotaDisneyMum · 27/06/2011 18:49

I totally understand that for people who do not place the same value on an animals life as that of a human, the outcry that this incident has caused appears hysterical.

For those who hold animals as close, if not closer, to their hearts than some people, such a matter-of-fact attitude seems cold hearted and callous.

Such slow and painful deaths occur every day to livestock animals during transport, or fish caught in trawlers nets. These animals do not suffer any less than the dogs that died yesterday - but the campaigns to halt their suffering are considered extreme by many and do not elicit the same strength of feeling; the domestic dog is a special animal to a lot of people.

The police dogs that died were owned and trained to do a job; in part because their lives are considered less valuable that that of a human. They are placed in dangerous situations in the knowledge that they could lose their lives. Society considers it acceptable for a dog to lay down it's life for that of a human.

Despite all of that - these dogs have been failed by the humans they trusted. Their deaths were avoidable, inexcusable and a reflection of the inattention to detail and lack of responsibility by the persons whose charge they were in. These were not members of the public, but professionals selected to make the handling and care of these dogs a priority in their lives. Their failings are more serious than the same, irresponsible, behaviour, by a member of the public.

An officer, or more than one, failed in their duty yesterday - and two dogs died as a result. I am glad that my life was not placed in their hands.

Original poster
Kvetch · 27/06/2011 18:58

NotADisneyMum, this vegan who is totally against the use of animals in security roles agrees with every word you say.

I've just heard of a similar case, this time involving a member of the public. Sketchy details but according to a friend a woman locked her Staffie in a conservatory and went out for the day "because she was pregnant and wanted to go and see her mother". There are apparently claw marks and bite marks all over the metal door rim, the plastics and brickwork where that poor dog tried her best to get out before she died in agony. :(

OP posts:
hephaestus · 27/06/2011 19:05

Just a warning to all to avoid the Daily Mail article on this, they've updated with a very distressing picture.

Fucking awful, shameful situation. Those poor dogs.

Awomancalledhorse · 27/06/2011 19:23

Hidinginahardhat has a point, I'm a massive animal lover but I don't think this is worthy of being 'breaking news' (as it was reported earlier on sky) & amassing so much coverage...I can't remember the last time a non-police dog/animal dying in a hot car as a result of a careless owner was reported locally/nationally.

I'm still disgusted that a somewhere like Keston this berk didn't think 'oh, maybe I'll leave them in the kennels a bit longer', and just hope the officer involved didn't have a family who regarded the dogs as pets!

DogsBestFriend · 28/06/2011 09:18

I've been told that this is the second time this particular police officer has killed a dog left in a car. A Spaniel died at his hands 7 years ago - and rather than being sacked he was promoted.

The man, who is described as one of the country's most experienced dog trainers (god help the dogs in the care of less experienced trainers then), apparently slashed his wrists when he heard of the needless deaths of the GSD puppy and Malinois dog.

A quote an AR acquaintance comes close to what I'm thinking right now: "....fucker, he should have done a better job at either minding the dogs or slitting his wrists....."

LyingWitchInTheWardrobe2726 · 28/06/2011 09:26

Hiding... no, you can't have the penny and the bun. Incompetence is incompetence and this was entirely forseeable with predictable results. It's happened before. Whether it would be a dog or a baby. If an adult is incompetent to properly look after it then that is the issue.

There will always be 'hysterics' on the internet and events like this rile people for various reasons. It's not logical for you to say that it's alright in one event and not in another. Many people are outraged that this event, having happened before, has happened again. Nothing has been learned. This isn't a debate about the relative worth of a dog as opposed to a baby.

LadyBeagleEyes · 28/06/2011 09:51

I'm just astonished, that with all the warnings out there about leaving dogs in hot cars, it can still happen.
Especially a police dog handler.
WTF was he thinking?

bibbitybobbityhat · 28/06/2011 09:57

But when you consider that 253 young children died of hyperthermia in cars in the States between 1998 and 2010 as the result of having been forgotten by their care givers, it doesn't seem impossible to believe.

(I think this would be better suited to In The News than Am I Being Unreasonable because no one thinks its a good idea for dogs to die in cars).

MrsRhettButler · 28/06/2011 10:00

You do realise that if one of us killed a police dog it would be considered murder of a police officer? So in truth this police officer has committed murder....

bibbitybobbityhat · 28/06/2011 10:01

Do you think he did it deliberately?

LaurieFairyCake · 28/06/2011 10:07

He had left a dog to die before, when he found out yesterday what had happened he tried to cut his wrists.

He was of course entirely negligent, there were kenneling facilities on-site which he was aware of and should have used.

The dogs died a horrific death and I was shocked to hear that it could happen in as little as 20 minutes - that sent shivers up my spine, really a terrifyingly small amount of time.

Someone on the comments on the Daily Mail website said a woman was frogmarched out of a supermarket as her dog was in the car - she then spent 15 minutes arguing to be let back in Sad She seemed to think the dog would be alright as the window was open an inch.

DogsBestFriend · 28/06/2011 10:08

He's committed murder three times IMO, regardless of what anyone else calls it, MrsRB.

DogsBestFriend · 28/06/2011 10:11

"Someone on the comments on the Daily Mail website said a woman was frogmarched out of a supermarket as her dog was in the car - she then spent 15 minutes arguing to be let back in sad She seemed to think the dog would be alright as the window was open an inch."

WTF is it with people? Not just the owner but the person arguing for 15 minutes? You don't stand there arguing whilst the dog is cooking in a car, you DO something! Nearest heavy implement and smash the window, remove dog to safety, worry about minor issue and consequences of a deliberately smashed item of property later.

LaurieFairyCake · 28/06/2011 10:13

The owner and the person were the same - sorry if I didn't make that clear. She was frogmarched out, walked up to the window of her car, said the dog was alright and then spent 15 minutes arguing to go back in the supermarket.

Thankfully they didn't let her.

dickiedavisthunderthighs · 28/06/2011 10:15

It's a horrible thing to have happened but the officer in question has tried to kill himself over it.

I'm not excusing him but there are often mitigating circumstances when someone forgets something this important and CLEARLY he's suffering badly as a result of what he's done.
And for those screaming 'MURDERER', do grow up.

DogsBestFriend · 28/06/2011 10:17

You did, Laurie, it was me who wasn't clear. What I was trying to say was that had I been the supermarket staff member I wouldn't have argued with her for 15 minutes I'd have smashed her car window, got the dog out and removed from her "care" and attended court/paid the fine for the criminal damage later.

DogsBestFriend · 28/06/2011 10:27

Mitigating circumstances? What would they be then? PTD from the last dog he murdered in a hot car?

Mitigating circumstances when he's considered one of the UK's best police dog trainers???? Get away with you!

This is not some dopey teenager with no knowledge of the risk, this is someone whose whole JOB is to look after dogs! His work revolves around dogs, it's not the first time he's killed a dog like this FFS! It's sheer negligence to put a dog unattended in a car on a hot day, much less leave them there to die, any fool knows that... my 14 yo was as fuming as I was when she read the report yesterday, she knows not to do it, why the fuck didn't a police dog trainer/handler who had already killed one dog? No excuses! None!

Trust me, any half decent person who works with or even just owns dogs doesn't wander off and forget them.

HowAnnoying · 28/06/2011 10:38

I wonder if his suicide attempt (or hand injury, as has been reported) is more to do with the fact his career is probably over.

DogsBestFriend · 28/06/2011 11:06

My thoughts exactly, HowAnnoying. I would doubt very much if it was a particularly serious or genuine "suicide attempt". If he were that distraught about killing dogs in his care it wouldn't have happened a second time. At best he'd have felt honour bound to resign the first time he killed a dog.