VIDEO PINNED: DON’T BE AFRAID TO SPEAK UP: Woman feared for K9’s safety inside sheriff’s vehicle
Butler County, Ohio – Many of you sent me this video and asked me to find out more. So I did.
A woman posting on TikTok as @fleckorion recorded a Butler County Sheriff’s Office K9 vehicle outside a Columbus-area hotel after hearing a K9 barking inside. She says she became concerned about the dog and started asking questions. And I would have called 911 too.
The Butler County Sheriff’s Office says the K9 is fine and was simply reacting to the woman’s dog. The sheriff’s office says its K9 vehicles are equipped with fans and temperature-alert systems, and that handlers sometimes use the vehicles as kennels while away on training trips.
The sheriff’s office also told me there was no investigation because it says there was no need for one.
The video alone cannot tell us how long the K9 had been inside that vehicle, what the temperature was inside, whether every safety system was functioning or whether the dog was actually in distress. And I’m glad the K9 is okay.
But this is why I don’t think people should ever be afraid to speak up when something does not look right.
We have covered K9 Horus in Missouri. Investigators said Horus died after being left in a patrol vehicle for hours, and testing later showed the vehicle’s heat-protection system worked but had been deactivated.
We have covered K9 Cooper in Ohio. Cooper died from heat exhaustion after being left inside an unmarked sheriff’s vehicle. Investigators later said the vehicle had been left blowing warm air and the handler was not carrying the portable temperature-monitoring device.
And we have covered K9 Georgia in Georgia. Her sheriff’s office said the patrol vehicle’s air-conditioning compressor failed, the heat alarm was not functioning and Georgia had been left unattended for what the agency called an “unacceptable amount of time.”
We have covered even more but although those cases didn’t all happen for the same reaso, they show something important: technology is a safeguard. It is not a guarantee.
So my question is not whether this K9 survived. Thankfully, according to the sheriff’s office, the dog is okay.
My question is this: With the number of K9s who have died in handlers’ vehicles, should any law-enforcement K9 be left inside a vehicle overnight or when the handler goes home simply because an agency’s policy allows it?
And when someone sees something that worries them, I would rather they ask the question than stay silent.
Resources on how you can help in the pinned comment below. ↓
QUESTION: Should law-enforcement K9s ever be left inside patrol vehicles overnight – even when the vehicle has temperature alarms and cooling systems?
Sources: Butler County Sheriff’s Office; @fleckorion; Muskingum County Prosecutor’s Office; Dade County Sheriff’s Office; Kansas City Star.
Fair use. Innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.