The Trial of the Police Dog Handler begins

It comes as no surprise to me that he is claiming that he had depression & obsessive compulsive disorder & this caused him to"forget"his dogs

The trial begins

So no doubt he will not be too harshly punished & then take early retirement on full pension from the Police.

I have depression, but my dogs & cats are always my number one priority.

If he was so ill why wasn't he on sick & his dogs in the Police kennels ???? He certainly shouldn't have been on duty !

I have to say that I was practically the lone voice when this story first broke, asking for everyone to give him a break. He was clearly devastated, it was a mistake for which he will now pay for the rest of his life ... blah blah.

Actually, after seeing the report on the trial on the BBC news at lunchtime, I have decided that as much as he loved his dogs etc (which I still don't doubt), there is no way on earth that he should be dealt with leniently after leaving them in that kind of heat in his car for SEVEN hours. I had no idea it was that long

Those poor dogs must have suffered terribly, and if I had committed such cruelty on my own dogs, I don't think I could live with myself.

Seven hours - seven hours

I also had no idea it was that long. I agree too that if he was depressed, he was either still capable of looking after his dogs, or, he should have been off sick or some alternative arrangements made.

I saw a photo a while back of the dogs' bodies on a news report. I believe one was actually a Mali, and one was a GSD.

Heartbreaking, just heartbreaking.

Wys
x

I too was appalled that they were left for 7 hours, surely that is unacceptable even if they had been in the air conditioned police van?

Depression and OCD are, in my book, not acceptable reasons for forgetting he had taken his dogs to work. His dogs were his partners, and should have been his life.

It was totally avoidable and unacceptable and he may well regret that day for as long as he lives however his two dogs died in appalling circumstances that fact cannot be ignored

Seven hours, that's a hell of a long time to leave them. Surely if he had mental problems to the extent he says he has, he should not have been working.

Speechless!!!

I was with you Moobli in having some sympathy for the policeman but as you say, now that we know that it was 7 hours, I have completely changed my mind.

I do think that he must be ill to have forgotten totally about his dogs for that long, but as Heather says, if he was that bad, how was he still working? What other major things had he forgotten/overlooked?

I'm also a wee bit surprised though that no-one else saw his dogs in his car in the car park - surely other policeman must've come/gone through that area during that time?

Typical one rule for them & another rule for the rest of us !

Agreed.

Hope he's done for cruelty and neglect but no doubt he won't be.

Poor dogs must've suffered terribly.

And I hope the Policeman in question is suffering terribly knowing what he did to those animals, his partners.

Very good point. I wonder if that'll be brought up in court.