Pc 'let dogs die in baking car' - Page 1

http://news.uk.msn.com/uk/articles.aspx?cp-documentid=152259009

pa.press.net, Updated: 22/02/2010 14:38

A police dog handler left his two devoted German Shepherds to bake to death in the back of his car when he
became distracted by paperwork, a court has heard.

Pc Mark Johnson, 39, was suffering from depression and obsessive compulsive disorder leading to him
forgetting his dogs, 18-month-old Jay-Jay and Jet, seven, on June 30 last year.

Paul Taylor, prosecuting the case for the RSPCA, told the trial at Nottingham Magistrates' Court:
"Jet and Jay-Jay suffered excruciating pain when their handler Pc Johnson left them in the boot of his
private motorcar.

"Pc Johnson's usual routine would have been to have transferred them to a police vehicle which had
an air cooling unit but he did not transfer them and went about his business. He had some paperwork
which needed to be done and by the time he realised what had happened, seven hours had passed and
he went out and realised the dogs had died.

"Pc Johnson had always been devoted to animals and his dogs in particular - who would have saved his
life or got him out of tricky situations on operations in the past. I can find no evidence that he harboured any
malice towards his dogs or that he would have wished to harm them but he made an error which
nevertheless had fatal consequences for the animals.

"His failure in this case is an aberration of his normal high standards. However his actions had catastrophic consequences for the two dogs in the car."

The RSPCA alleges Johnson unnecessarily confined his dogs "in an environment that was detrimental to
their wellbeing". He denies the charge.

The deaths happened on one of the hottest days of the year, when temperatures reached 29.3C (84.7F).
The dogs died from heatstroke during a heatwave.

Pc Johnson, who has served with the force for nearly 18 years, told the court that he was left severely depressed
and suffering from obsessive compulsive disorder after facing repeated investigations by the Independent Police Complaints Commission.

He said: "Basically it was to do with the IPCC, that they were out to get me. Complaint after complaint came in
and they were referred to the IPCC when they shouldn't have been. I always felt they were trying to prove a case
against me."

A conditional discharge and £2.5k costs, I wonder if he will lose his job.

Too bad he wasn't "obsessive" about his dogs. 

The same thing happened here a Deputy left the dog in the driveway in  July died a gruesome death, tore at all the windows they did nothing to the guy, cronie-ism or something.  he was just ''scatterbrained'' they said ' I think my exact words were.... WTF!?