Pet Lovers

[KingstonsMom]

• Monroe County Sgt Willie Barkley was demoted to deputy and suspended for leaving his K9 partner Khan in a hot car, resulting in dog's death
• Four-year-old Belgian Malinois was healthy when he died in the hot patrol car after Barkley forgot to take him out at the end of his shift 
• Barkley's car is equipped with device that alerts the K9 handler if the temperature inside the car gets too high, but it had been unplugged
• Temperatures on the day of the incident were in the 70s, but inside the car it was possibly 90 degrees 
• Monroe County sheriff called K9 officer's death 'an avoidable accident'   

A Georgia sheriff's K-9 has died after his handler left the dog in a hot patrol car for hours, leading to the sergeant's demotion. 

Monroe County Sheriff Brad Freeman said Sgt. Willie Barkley, now a deputy, was working overnight on May 13 when he left K-9 officer Khan asleep in the car while he finished up reports in the driveway of his home. 

In the early hours of May 14, Barkley went inside the house and left the four-year-old Belgian Malinois in the patrol car, instead of taking the dog to his pen in the yard.

The vehicle is equipped with a device that alerts the handler if the temperature inside the car gets too high, but Freeman told 13WMAZ that Barkley had unplugged it because he was going to be off for the next three days. 

'You can spend all the money in the world on technology but there's still a human factor,' Freeman said. 

When Barkely woke up hours later to feed his four-legged partner, he found Khan dead inside the patrol car.

'There were no health issues with the dog. Dog was healthy. Although it wasn’t a hot day, the temperature was around 79 that day. A lot of people don’t realize it might be 79 outside, which is not hot for us, but in the car, it can go up 20 degrees. It could be 90+ degrees in that car. Therefore, no one can handle that -- human or animal,' Freeman told the station. 

Freeman called the dog’s death 'an avoidable accident.'

Freeman said Barkley was demoted to deputy and moved from field operations to working at the jail. He was also suspended for five days without pay.

Monroe County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Anna Lewis said Khan has been with the department since 2018, working in drug and tracking operations.

The Internal Affairs Division of the sheriff’s office determined the dog’s death was an accident.

RIP KHAN

[Rose429]

@KingstonsMom  That just makes me so mad. That officer should be fired in my opinion. No excuses. This is not the first K9 this has happened too. 

[Kachina624]

Why would Monroe County want such an irresponsible officer to continue his law enforcement duties with them?  He should be fired immediately and his credentials to work in law enforcement removed.  It was animal abuse, pure and simple, not an 'accident'. 

[Susan in California]

This story makes me absolutely sick.

What a disgusting person.  Why in the h-e-l-l

didn't he bring the dog in the house to begin

with.  To have a K-9 partner like this, he should

have cared about his welfare.  I agree, he should

just be fired.  Period.

[ruthbe]

he should be fired and charged with animal cruelity!!!!  In my mind that should be a felony in every state.

[Love my grandkids]

@KingstonsMom This makes me so  d*a*m*n mad!! That SOB should be fired and then locked in a hot car. I just cry to think about how that poor sweet doggo suffered. I'm so mad I can't see straight. If I say anymore the Mods will put me on a time out. It would almost be worth it.

[KingstonsMom]

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@Rose429 wrote:

@KingstonsMom  That just makes me so mad. That officer should be fired in my opinion. No excuses. This is not the first K9 this has happened too. 

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@Rose429 

I agree, he should be charged with animal neglect, at the very least, and never be allowed to be a canine officer, IMO.

[Love my grandkids]

\AND he should be charged in the death of a police officer, which K-9's ARE. Prosecute this a** h*** for THAT. 

[Scorpio1971]

Tragic loss of a beautiful animal.  IMHO it is no different than police cruelty inflicted on humans, except without he violence in this case.  And there have been violent instances of officers being cruel to their K-9 partners.

[KingstonsMom]

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@Love my grandkids wrote:

@KingstonsMom This makes me so G.D. mad!! That SOB should be fired and then locked in a hot car. I just cry to think about how that poor sweet doggo suffered. I'm so mad I can't see straight. If I say anymore the Mods will put me on a time out. It would almost be worth it.

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@Love my grandkids 

I think most of us strongly agree with you, but please don't say anything that would get you banned.......I'd miss your posts!