General Chat

I'm not so sure of that Sue, there were a couple of similar incidents last year, by joe public, that were reported on the news (OK not national, but certainly local) that caused absolute outrage.

But the point I'm making is that it was reported as though the policeman deliberately left the dogs in the van, when we just don't know if that was the case, and it certainly looks like that wasn't the case. The way it was reported has condemned the poor man before the full facts were known. So much for innocent before proven guilty. The media have made sure the public are turned against the handler anyway.

I take your point TW but have to say if they had just reported it was Joe Public very few people would have taken notice.

As it concerns police dogs perhaps it may serve as a reminder to some careless private dog owners to be more careful.

You are right TW the bit about the handler being missing then found was right at the end of the report. We don't know the full story and if he had actually been attacked or something and the van stolen it was as if we were putting the dogs (poor things) before the handler.

Its often the way these things are reported. When I first heard it on the news, the centre of the report was about the dogs being shut in the car/van in the heatwave and dying. My initial reaction was one of disgust.

THEN they added at the end of the news item that the officer concerned had been reported missing and had been found in London later with a hand injury. Now, did he shut them in the car then go missing, or were they shut in the car because he was missing?

We really shouldn't condemn until we've got the full facts, and ignore the way sensationalist news reporters put an item across.

There were no accusations in the original report re the dog handler.

When we look after Golly even when it's a bit nippy we still have the windows open when driving so she stays cool.

I get out the car frozen solid, Golly is ready to charge up and down the beach ;-)

Before we condemn the dog handler, he had been missing for 24 hours and was found in London with a hand injury. There could be a good reason why the dogs were apparently abandoned this time, unlike last year when they were just left in an unventilated van, and the officer concerned was dismissed from the force.

We don't know yet if the van had been driven to the spot it was found and just left there by whover injured the dog handler.

I hope they are prosecuted for animal cruelty in the same way a member of the public would be if they did the same.

Poor dogs ...I daren't even think of what the poor little mites had to go through :0(

There is no excuse for this.Makes my blood boil(just like those poor dogs).I remember the 2 police dogs that died last time.I can't say anymore other than that.

George......absolutely!!

Sue...like you l don't know what to say..:((((

jude x

Their first duty should have been making sure the dogs were Ok....disgraceful.

how sad poor dogs

I just wish the police had thought about the dogs..such a waste of lovely dogs lives..

Also I hope he gets prosecuted for Cruelty to animals as if it had been a member of the public they would be in court quicker than you can say """Jack Robinson"""

This is so sad, why don't people just think. I hope the handler is not allowed near dogs again but too late for these two.

UNBELIEVABLE!...........

Not a lot I can say really

Two Met Police dogs have died after they were left in a car on the hottest day of the year
Two police dogs have died after they were left in a car on the hottest day of the year.

The Metropolitan Police animals, a working Belgian Malanois and a German Shepherd puppy, were found collapsed in an unventilated vehicle at the force's training centre in Keston, Kent, on Sunday.

A Met Police spokesman said: "On Sunday June 26 at approx 11am staff at a Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) building were alerted to two police dogs having been left in an unventilated private vehicle.

"Entry was forced to the vehicle and two MPS dogs, a working Belgian Malanois and a German Shepherd pup, were found in a state of collapse.

"Both were taken to an emergency vets where they subsequently died.

"An investigation by the Directorate of Professional Standards into the circumstances of this incident has begun."

The deaths follow those of two German Shepherd police dogs, who were left to die in a baking hot car outside Nottinghamshire Police headquarters in July 2009.

A spokeswoman from the Dogs Trust, the UK's largest dog welfare charity, said it was "saddened" to hear of the two latest deaths.

She added: "Whilst the cause of death is still to be determined, the charity would like to remind dog owners and police dog handlers that leaving your dog in a car can prove rapidly fatal, particularly during a heatwave.

"It can take just 20 minutes for a dog to die and temperatures can reach over 40 degrees in some vehicles."