I want to honor the memory of Ozzy, the Belgian Malinois/German shepherd Long Beach Police Department K-9 narcotics officer who died of heat exhaustion on Aug. 14 at 3:40 p.m., as reported in an Aug. 23 Long Beach Post article .

But I can’t escape the anger and confusion I hear and read, and also feel myself. Like everyone, I was furious when I read the article, and I still am. I’m also at a loss to where it should be directed. I shared the LB Post article on my own Facebook page, and of course, it exploded with enraged comments from friends and acquaintances. They either skewered Ozzy’s handler, put the blame on a technological malfunction and technology itself, and in a few cases implored people to please give it a break and wait for the investigation to finish.

“It’s sad for all of us involved—the officers and the community,” said Maryanne James, whose husband, Doug, is a board member of the nonprofit Long Beach K-9 Officers Association. “The officers treat those dogs like family—they are their family. We’ve been on the frontlines and see how they treat these canines. People are angry—we get it, we’re angry, too. I thought, how could this happen? But then, you stop and you think a second.”

I stopped, I thought, I changed the “angry” icon I’d clicked on the LB Post’s Facebook page to “sad.” I took down the post I’d shared on my own page because my animal-advocate friends were breaking their chains to go at one another’s throats.

I don’t know why Ozzy died. I know nothing for certain except that an investigation is ongoing. I hope it turns up the truth, whether it’s system failure or human failure.

LBPD spokesperson Shaunna Dandoy said that the alert system may have failed to notify the handler.

“Once the vehicle reaches a certain temperature, it’s supposed to send an alert,” Dandoy said. “At this time, we believe that the alert wasn’t working. In response to this, officers are now regularly checking their system controllers to make sure that they’re operating correctly.”

Not everyone has faith in technology.

“Manmade machines and technology WILL fail at some point,” commented reader Kelley Cass on LB Post’s Facebook page. “You (LBPD) need to come up with an alternative to leaving dogs in cars period.”

I don’t think that technology is either fail-safe or a substitute for common sense, either, especially where a life is concerned. According to Natalia Lima, the publicist for the Animal Legal Defense Fund, there had been 41 heat-related deaths of K-9 officers reported over the past five years, with a drop to five between 2018 and 2019.

“Obviously, there has been a significant drop off in the past two years, likely because of the proliferation of heat alarms,” Lima said. “However, it’s worth noting that four of those five deaths since 2018 resulted from heat alarm failures, where the alarm did not notify the handler. In the fifth instance, there was an alarm installed but it had been turned off. So while these alarms are helping, they cannot be trusted to be infallible.”

Apparently, humans can’t either. I hope that there’s some evolution in the department’s policy regarding leaving dogs in cars. Dandoy said that any policy change would be included in a department review but that there may be additional steps taken regarding equipment, protocols and the circumstances.

As for the human element, Long Beach is a big city and a small town, and there’s considerable chatter about Ozzy’s death. Much of it has been directed at the handler. No solid, attributable facts have been presented as of this writing, and when they do, the LB Post’s investigative reporters will ably handle them. But I can take advantage of my position as a pet columnist to openly express anger at whatever caused Ozzy’s death. When it’s in the open, I’m sure I’ll be even angrier, and so will a lot of other people. It’s too late for Ozzy, but hopefully something constructive will come out of the investigation.

Rest easy, beautiful, loyal, innocent Friend.

The Long Beach K-9 Officers Association was established to purchase K-9 officers, pay for vet bills and new kennels, pay medical care for off-duty K-9s, and provide medical care and food for the retired dogs, among other things. The organization is not affiliated in any way with the Long Beach Police Department. Information, including donating in Ozzy’s name, can be accessed here. Please leave comments in Ozzy’s memory on the organization’s Facebook page.