K9 Sasha
I am absolutely sickened by this story in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution about Warwick, GA Police K9 Sasha, who died of neglect in her Chevrolet Tahoe while her “handler” was on a three day vacation.
K9 Sasha, a 10 year old Dutch Shepherd, had been given to the Warwick PD by the Miami, FL Police Department about two years ago. She was a trained narcotics detector dog with many finds both in Florida and in Georgia.
Click the link above if you want to read the details of her death. I really do not feel like printing them here.
As a former Police K9 Handler, I had nothing but outrage in reading the story. I sincerely hope that the horrific death of this animal did not come about as described. I have had friends who lost their partners to faulty A/C and heat alarm units, but never something as criminally neglectful as forgetting a K9 dog in a car for three days.
The articles quotes the Warwick police chief’s report as saying, “(the ‘handler’) stated that Sasha must have let herself inside the vehicle over the weekend while he was out of town.” Wha?
I know, I know. I’m the first one to go after the mainstream media for their agenda-driven reporting, but I will acknowledge that there is always at least some small measure of truth, no matter how distorted the media’s ultimate message. Maybe this story comes to the wrong conclusion. Maybe.
The Warwick PD and Worth County Sheriff’s Office, the jurisdiction in which the “handler” lived, need to fully investigate the death, which occurred on Sept. 3 but was not reported until Sept. 14. The Georgia Humane Society plans to perform a necropsy and give K9 Sasha a proper burial. The “handler” resigned, but a valuable piece of department equipment and living animal was lost. This is shameful.
Randall
The original incident report states Lt Frye left town for three days over Labor Day weekend. When he was returning to work the tuesday morning after the holiday weekend he discovered Sasha deceased in his police vehicle. She ripped it up trying to get out. A warrant to collect remains still hasn’t been issued so postmortem tests have not yet been done. Sasha is still buried in the backyard of Lt. Frye, the officer that is responsible for her death. This type negligence is a criminal offense in GA regardless but not sure why this cop has yet to be charged or why local enforcement agency refused to charge or even investigate. Animal cruelty appears to be “rocket science” in Warwick :/
My name is Mike Veltman , jr , and I would like to address all the hypocrites who think that they are any better than the human being that made a tragic mistake of foregetting his K-9 partner in the police vehicle ! Let the first person who ever foregot to turn a light out when they left a room cast the first stone ! Who do you think you people are ? I mean my God man , do you think he did it on purpose ? Do you think that if he could go back in time he wouldn’t do different ? I tell you now , if the shoe were on your’ foot you would be asking for mercy just like him ! God forebid the accuser become the accusee ! In any case I’m sure at first you would come up with a cocklmamy story too to cover for your’ mistake , but fact is whats done is done even for toddlers left behind , which I personally have a very hard time dealing with myself , but never fear I have a patent pending on the product thats gonna change all this drama ! Watch for my name in the press release at the next Sema car show at the end of this month and the beginning of next month , I promise all of you that I have the answer ! A wise man once said , ” Take a good look at yourself , and maybe then you will look at others differently ! ” Yours’ Sincerely , M , Veltman , jr .
Mr. Veltman,
I’m going to go out on a limb here and state that I am certainly better than the “handler” since I’ve never forgotten my K9 partners in the police vehicle.
Randall
all of that is not relevant. bottom line is it is against the law, and he of all people, yes, should have known better because those are the same laws he is suppose to be out enforcing. they’ve been on the books for over 12 years so he’s had plenty of time to learn them. no, i do not excuse him. he is not above the law. none of us are.
how dare you compare forgetting about a living creature to forgetting to turn off a light!
Oh, I dare alright , let me just say to all that it is alright to be critical to someone who makes a mistake even The Christ was like that to most , but just remember that being hypocritical is just a half a step from critical and a very slippery slope ! I’d be willing to bet that going out on a limb is just what you’d be doing if you thought a tragedy couldn’t possibly happen to you , and no matter how old a law is your’ always just this side of doing something you will be ashamed of and regret . Take a step back people .
The consequence of leaving your light on in the bedroom is a few cents more on your next electric bill. The consequence of leaving your dog unattended in a hot car while you’re gone on a three day vacation is the loss of the dogs life. As the above linked article points out, it’s a felony to kill a police dog.
Well , we can all talk till we’re blue in the face , but obviously the common denominator will always be the same , which is human error . Now I know thats just too hard to understand to some and you can’t fix stupid but till you people who think he did it on purpose understand that this man didn’t roll out of bed that fateful morning and say to himself , ” hmmm , think I will kill a helpless animal today , might as well be a 100 , 000 dollar K-9 and my official partner . ” then you will never understand , so best I can tell you is go ask someone to help you look up the word accident and try to memorize it and quit interfering when the big people are talking !
Veltman, I understand that your either a slimeball looking to use this preventable TRADEGY to market some idiotic “invention”, just trying to get a rise, or your just a complete lunatic. I am a retired State Trooper with rank. I’m not sure why I’m bothering to argue this with you, but what happened is called…ACCOUNTABILITY! If I “forget” my loaded gun on a desk while talking to kindergarten students, and one of them picked it up to play and shot themselves, it would have been MY FAULT. That’s not an accident. That is irresponsible, negligent behavior that resulted in a culpable death. (Oh yeah, you just forgot Sasha or a toddler in a car…NO BIGGIE??? just an accident.) I would have given your mother a pass had she forgotten to feed you for a month, (by accident of course). Also, not everyone tries to cover up a mistake. Many people try to take responsibility and do NOT try a moronic attempt at a bad excuse and coverup. That’s probably only in your world, and equally dumb circle of friends. My guess is that your unemployed, since you don’t think responsibility is necessary, only throwing out some lame Biblical equation. RIP SASHA! JOE
Joe , first of all , I would like to set you straight on a couple things then hopefully we can move on to bigger and better platforms. Number one I do have a job , have 6 out of every 24 hrs to my self minus 2 hrs for getting cleaned up and ready for my next shift thats 4 hrs of sleep a day 7 days a week , never missed , late or otherwise compromised my work quality , been working this job approximately 2.5 yrs , second I don’t mind saying that I think it is very unbecoming of an officer to go online and talk about someones mother , but thats okay I foregive you , we all mess up from time to time , third I would love to meet up with you and have a sitdown discussion about my invention , have you sign a confidentiality agreement of course and then if you still think its an idiotic invention then I invite you to sign in and say so . I have great confidence that you will not only be amazed , but will want to endorse my product , and maybe realize that I’m not against you or Sasha . So , what do ya say ?
Well , I suppose I’ll just leave my last statement the way I stated my first , and that is to say that the officer that made a mistake should get his job back and his career . Also I would like to tell all the hypocrite police officers out there who think that punishing someone for a mistake , should take a look at theirselves , like the several officers that just stood around and let a police commissioner give them the bird while driving away drunker than Cooter Brown ! It angers me that my tax dollars go to pay the salaries of officers sworn to uphold the law , but allow a police commish to potentially kill innocent humans , which I put the life of just one human child above all the K9’s on the planet !!! And that Joe is a culpable scenario for ya , a dereliction of duty to the highest degree , but I’ll bet those officers still have their jobs ! Furthermore , I’m sick and tired of police treating private citizens like second rate life forms just because they have a badge and gun and can get away with attempted murder like the commish ! You people aren’t better than anybody , let alone saying you couldn’t make a mistake ! I’ll bet all of you have gotten away with something just because you have a badge , if that was me drinking and driving I would still be recovering from the police brutality that would have came with my IMMEDIATE ARREST ! So thats all I have to say as I’m too busy solving problems instead of crying about them and pointing fingers !
Well put Joe. I couldn’t say any better myself.
Mike V. Little Jr.,
What the hell is the matter with you?? No, he didn’t do it on purpose but neither did the guy who drank so much then drove his vehicle into a 6 year old boy riding his bike. So let’s not charge people for mistakes… I will say this, The Officer didn’t deserve a K-9 period! Then to forget…..Not Acceptable. People make mistakes everyday yes, but pay the price when it causes death. I am a former handler myself, I was young too only 22years old when I started. I did it for 2 years for a state park. I will tell you what, I Never Never forgot about my K-9. I always kept a bucket of ice water on the back floor along with a bowl of food. The dog could uncover it herself if needed. It’s called taking responsibility! I will end this with one last question; what if his partner was that new 25 yr old , 125lb, blonde hair, blue eyed female rookie? Would he forget then?
I am a police officer in a nearby jurisdiction to where this happened, and I have some knowledge of the incident. I won’t comment on any details or give my opinion on the situation. I truly feel sorrow for the loss of K-9 Sasha. That being said, I have a question for Mr. Veltman. Did you graduate high school? The reason that I ask is simple. Your grammar is pathetic.-(I was going to type “atrocious”, but I didn’t think you would understand….on that note, maybe I should type “reeeeel baaaddd” or “aint no gooooood”, instead of “pathetic”-just so you know :@
All I need to spell correctly where you all are concerned is hypocrite , corrupt , and just a matter of time before your’ true natures all come out , just like that cop who was just busted for homosexual requests to give a drunk college student a ride home last Halloween , hahahahahah ! You show me a cop with a spotless record and I’ll show you a cop who just hasn’t been caught yet !