A Missouri police officer has been prosecuted after allegedly leaving his K-9 officer in a hot car overnight in June, resulting in his death.
On Friday, Savannah Police Lt. Daniel Zeigler was charged in Andrew County with one count of animal mistreatment.
According to court documents obtained by Fox 2, the incident occurred on June 20 when Zeigler and his K-9 companion Horus finished their nightly shift shortly before 5 a.m.
Just before 6 p.m. on the same day, Zeigler informed Savannah Police Chief Dave Vincent that Horus had died.
According to court filings, Horus died from heat exposure after Ziegler left him in the police van at the end of his shift.
FOX 4 reported that the maximum temperature that day was 90 degrees, with a low of 70 degrees outside.
According to the American Veterinary Medical Association, research shows that the temperature inside a car can climb to more than 100 degrees in half an hour, even if the outside temperature is only 70 degrees.
According to court records, a witness told investigators that he saw the slain K-9 officer in the yard near the police vehicle that evening, and Zeigler was “flipping out” and screamed in astonishment that he believed he had taken the K-9 in after his shift.
After Ziegler’s purported confession about Horus’ death, his vehicle was also tested. His vehicle was parked outdoors in direct sunshine with the ignition turned off, and court filings claim that when the internal temperature reached 90 degrees, the vehicle began to honk continuously, roll down the back windows, and turn on a fan.
This test was used to demonstrate that the AceK9 system inside the police vehicle was operational and would have had to be manually switched off or disabled on June 20, contributing to Horus’ death by eliminating a safeguard designed to avert the disaster, according to court filings.
On Saturday, a goodbye service was held in honor of K-9 Officer Horus, who had served the community for more than three years.
The police department also announced on social media in July that an unknown donor had offered to buy a headstone for Horus.
“Thank you to our donor and Vanvickle Monuments for the headstone honoring our K9 Officer Horus,” the department said in a statement that included photographs of the headstone.
Gov. Mike Parson recently approved Max’s Law, which enhances the penalty for harming and killing animals in law enforcement.
“These heroic animals put their lives on the line every day to protect the public and their human partners,” Republican state Sen. Tony Luetkemeyer said in an earlier statement. “The law should protect them.”
According to the Savannah Police Department’s website, Lt. Ziegler is still on the personnel roster.