K9 killed by stupidity

[Steve in PA]

Anyone see or hear about this?? Heard it on my local 11pm news last night. Seems a K9 officer "forgot" about his partner and left him locked inside a vehicle at the end of shift for four hours unitl someone found him. I hope he gets his *** kicked by the other K9 officers......if they don't want to, call me..I'll be more than happy to.

Here's the link;
http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/news/053...policedog.html

[207]

How unfortunate and tragic. All those years of experience and he forgets about the dog.

[Randy32]

After 28 years, hes finally loosing his mind. Its about time for the Canine Officer to retire!

[team green]

That is horrible. Out here, our k9 units are air conditioned and have an alarm that sounds when it is too hot in the back. The cage area is always cool, even if the car is not running.

[Mitzi]

How awful. Just remember, he is human, like all of us. Sometimes our "computers" don't work either. How many of us have made really dumb mistakes that could have ended in tragedy but for the grace of God?

[SpecOpsWarrior]

Originally posted by Mitzi:
How awful. Just remember, he is human, like all of us. Sometimes our "computers" don't work either. How many of us have made really dumb mistakes that could have ended in tragedy but for the grace of God?

In a sense I have to agree with Mitzi, the guy is human, I am sure he has already punished himself worse than the his PD will ever be able to punish him.

But I will admit, When I read the article I kept thinking "How in the hell can anyone forget their partner?"

[Sgt. DG644]

DITTO: SpecOpsWarrior

[Mitzi]

This man sounds like he might be my age. Believe me, as you get older, your memory DOES get worse. I agree, though, he should not have forgotten his partner.
I became very ill right after my son's brain surgery. I came home and decided to make some tea. I was in such bad shape, I put the pan on the stove and turned the burner on with no water and went to make a phone call. Only when I heard my husband yell did I know something was wromg. Of course, I only had a ruined pan. But I berated myself on HOW could I forget something like that.
That night, I got up to get something to drink and opened the freezer for some ice. I had put the blender back, I THOUGHT right where I always put it. Wrong! I hadn't pushed it back far enough and it was partly on the freezer door. When I opened the door, the heavy part of the blender fell, hitting me in the mouth, splitting both my lips. How my teeth atayed intact (no dentures, all capped) I will never know.
My husband came running out of the bedroom. As he was applying ice to my swollen lips, he said, "You are going to the dr tomorrow. Something is wrong." And it was.....My Blood Glusoce Level was twice what it should be...I had diabetes and didn't know it. I am doing much better now since I statrted on meds.
Knowing how police officers feel about their K9 partners, it sounds to me like this officer has a problem that is causing his memory to go. He could even have the beginning stages of Alzheimer's as early as age 40. Remember, he even left the dog with the car windows up. That signals a problem to me right there.
I don't think there is any thing you or the department could say or do to this poor officer that could punish him more then he is going to punish himself.

[KCadet]

Tragic. What more can I say?

[Mitzi]

Yes, it is extremely tragic. There could have been any number of reasons this happened. I am sure the officer didn't mean for it to happen. I don't think, however, he hould ever get another K9 dog, for the dogs safety.
You never know why these things happen. The officer could have an illness like I said or even a brain tumor. That was the first thing we noticed in our son, total forgetfulness. We would fuss at him to pay attention but,when he walked out into traffic, that was our first clue something bad was wrong.
I do hope this officer gets a complete physical. Forgetting something that important has to be looked into in all areas.
If he has been on the force, like I said, 28 years, he's close to my age, 52. I don't FEEL 52 but I am. I feel much younger.
But, the first had a problem was when I took a bad fall because I didn't "see" a very noticeable curb and tripped, really hurting myself.
My forgetfulness was really starting to worry me. I was really beginning to wonder if I had Alzheimer's, honestly and so was my husband. I just was so confused and my husband wouldn't let me drive because if it. But, now that my diabetes is under control, my memory is much better.
My heart goes out to this officer. For reasons I won't go into, I know how it feels to do something others see as totally stupid. I did something 15 years ago I STILL have not forgiven myself for and the sad fact is, probably won't ever be forgiven for. For this reason, I reach out to people who may be ostracized. I know how it feels to be punished and shunned and never given another chance to redeem yourself. Like I said, I don't think the officer should have another K9 dog. My bet is that, after all this is over, he wouldn't take another one if they wanted him to.

[LBomb]

It is a tragic story. I think it sucks, however, that so many people can be so judgemental and threatening to "kick his ***" on a Police board.
As for the officer, he has been reassigned pending the outcome of an investigation. He is absolutely devestated and inconsolable. I don't think the Dept's punishment will beany worse then the grief he's experiencing now.
He has an unblemished record for 28 years in a Dept that will jam you up for infractions as minor as not having your hat on, etc.. a pretty remarkable feat.
As for the K-9 vehicle itself. The officer has no input on that at all. The K-9 Unit wanted to have the safety alarm and automatic cooling systems installed years ago. The City refused due to "budget cuts". I bet they'll find the money in the budget this year since they got some negative press.
I'm not defending his lapse of responsibility. His beautiful dog died because he was distracted. There's no defending that. But to have someone on this site wish that his fellow officers "kick his ***" and volunteer to come down and do it himself just made my stomach turn.

[Mitzi]

Do you know him, Lebomb? If you do, putting a hand out might help. I would venture he will need some psychological help through this. This is truly a death that will be hard for the poor man to come to terms with.
Like I said, no one could punish him more then he is going to punish himself.

[ 06-02-2002: Message edited by: Mitzi ]

[Steve in PA]

"kicking his ***" was a figure of speach, if you couldn't see that then.....get over it. Was I ****ed when I read the story, you bet. As I said, how do you forget about your partner. And don't try to blame it on "budget cuts". That's BS. He had a responsibilty to his dog, his partner. I'm sorry he feels devastated.....as well he should. Forgetting about his partner turns my stomach!!!!

[Mitzi]

Well, Steve, I am speaking from the voice of experience. I have been in a situation like this officer. I can't tell you what happened. It's too painful.
What he did was wrong. But nothing you can say or anyone else can say or anyone else can do will punish him more then he will punish himself. It's been 15 years since my experience, 12 years of therapy and a husband who never left my side that got me through the worst of it. At the very worst of it, I felt suicidal.
And I still have not forgiven myself. I doubt I ever will. This man won't either.
Society says to people who do things like this, "You are lower then low. You have no worth. And to remind you of this, we will give you a dirty look everytime we see you. Most of us won't even speak to you. You will be ostracized. Your family will be ostracized. In time, some of us who know what forgiveness is WILL forgive. But most of us won't. You're a sick person who deserves to live in a personal hell the rest of their life".
Think about it. And pray you never make a tragic mistake.

[ 06-02-2002: Message edited by: Mitzi ]

[kateykakes]

LB,

I sympathize with everything you said. I have a friend who is K9 officer in Philly and the day it happened, he told me to watch the 11:00 news and I asked what was going on. He just said watch, and that he couldn't elaborate anymore than that at this time.

That night, after the news aired, I left a note expressing my sympathy for what happened. We talked about it last night, as much as he could because of IA, but the bottom line is this: it's a lose-lose situation from every standpoint. A death has occured, and while Arrison may be breathing life, don't think he's not dying inside. He's got to live with this everyday for the rest of his life, and that's punishment in itself.

[ 06-02-2002: Message edited by: kateykakes ]