The death of a K9 officer in training in Centre County is currently under investigation by the state’s Department of Corrections.
Totti, a two year old yellow lab, K9 officer in training, died Thursday, July 7 at a vet, after he was accidentally left inside an officer’s car for two and a half hours.
According to a DOC spokesperson, the dog was used in the Drug Interdiction Unit and was training at SCI Rockview last week. They said the dog handler stored training items in his vehicle at the end of the training session at 12:15 p.m. and at 2:44 p.m., realized the dog was locked in the car. The DOC said the handler and other staff cooled the dog with water and carefully placed him in ice to reduce his body temperature before bringing him to a veterinarian clinic at 2:58 p.m.
Totti died at 7:30 p.m.
The DOC said this is the first incident since the inception of the Drug Interdiction Unit. There are 22 handlers and dogs in the program, which is in the process of moving its K9 training facility from the boot camp to SCI Rockview.
The DOC said the director of this program has met with all of the handlers to review the care and handling of dogs to ensure this does not happen again. The spokesperson said he is also looking into new technology and safeguards that could prevent this tragedy.
The DOC confirmed the officer involved is still working. No charges have been filed. If this case ever turned into a criminal investigation, the officer could potentially face summary charges. Under Pennsylvania law, leaving a dog in a hot car is at most a summary offense. A misdemeanor requires an intentional killing of a dog or cat.
The temperature on Thursday, July 7 in Benner Township was in the low-to mid 80’s and humid.
The DOC Office of Special Investigations and Intelligence is investigating.