Police Dogs Left In Car On Hottest Day Die

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

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

Staff smashed their way into the vehicle to rescue the dogs but the animals did not survive.

The dogs were discovered at about 11am in the back of their trainer's own car when temperatures had already reached almost 30C in the South East - the hottest day on record so far this year.

A Met Police spokesman said entry was forced to the vehicle after staff at the Metropolitan Police Service building were alerted to the plight of the two dogs.

"Both were taken to an emergency vet where they subsequently died," he said.

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

The dogs' handler has not been suspended from the force pending inquiries.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission said it was aware of the incident but would not be investigating.

The deaths come almost two years after two German Shepherd police dogs died under similar circumstances outside Nottinghamshire Police headquarters.

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."

Animal cruelty is punishable with a maximum of six months in prison and a £20,000 fine.

Last year, police dog handler PC Mark Johnson was handed a six-month conditional discharge after he was found guilty of animal cruelty following the deaths of the two shepherds in Nottinghamshire in July 2009.

During his trial in February last year, Nottingham Magistrates' Court was told he suffered from depression and obsessive compulsive disorder, which led to him forgetting that he had left the dogs in his car as temperatures reached 29.3C.