Police dogs that died in baking car at training centre were 'left for six hours'



Officer now in hospital after apparent suicide attempt



Two police dogs that died in a car on one of the hottest days of the year may have been left for as long as six hours, it emerged last night.



The Metropolitan Police is carrying out an urgent review after the deaths at its prestigious dog training centre.



Senior Scotland Yard officers have also ordered that animal welfare procedures are double checked across the force.

Slashed his wrists: Met Police Dog trainer Sergeant Ian Craven apparently attempted suicide after two dogs died in his care

The two animals were left sometime after 5am on Sunday at the training centre in the village of Keston, Kent, by their handler Sergeant Ian Craven.



He then travelled to the Olympic site in East London for a meeting – but did not alert kennel staff until he telephoned them at 11am, by which time temperatures outside the car had risen to 29c (84f).

Mr Craven, 49, one of the country’s most experienced dog trainers, could face prosecution for animal cruelty when an inquiry by the RSPCA is completed. He also faces an internal misconduct investigation.

Deaths: The Metropolitan Police Dog Training Establishment in Keston, where two police dogs died from excessive heat

Both the Belgian malinois, Chay, a bomb detection dog, and Tilly, a five-month-old alsatian puppy, died despite being freed from the baking car and taken to an emergency vet.



Mr Craven remained in hospital last night after being sectioned under the Mental Health Act after apparently attempting to cut his wrists on an East London towpath.



The officer was told the dogs had died as he was driven back to the training centre on Sunday. He threw himself from the police vehicle and was found with wrist injuries after a police manhunt.

The dying Belgian Malinois and German Shepherd were discovered at the Met's dog training centre in Keston, Kent, by a member of staff as temperatures reached 29C (file pictures)

Temperatures reached 29C at the Keston dog training centre yesterday, before a member of staff discovered the dying animals in a vehicle

Colleagues said his wife, also a Metropolitan Police dog handler, was deeply shocked by the incident. One said she faces an uncertain future because a court could ban Mr Craven from keeping animals, potentially disrupting her work.



He said: ‘She is 100 per cent supportive of him. She is very loyal. But it’s a very difficult situation for her professionally and personally.’



Animal welfare charities have asked how such a mistake could be made. There were calls for Mr Craven to face the full weight of the law after it emerged he was disciplined over a similar incident in July 2004.

A spaniel in his care died in the back of a car but he went on to be promoted and to become a leading figure at the training school.



The deaths highlighted how lessons have not been learned by police since a Nottinghamshire officer left two alsatians to die in his baking car two years ago. PC Mark Johnson, 40, was given a six-month conditional discharge and fined £2,500 last year.



Animal cruelty is punishable by a maximum jail term of 51 weeks, a fine of up to £20,000 and a lifetime ban on keeping pets.



Commander Bob Broadhurst of the Met’s central operations wing, which includes dog teams, said staff ‘did their best’ to save the dogs. He added: ‘They were left a number of hours.’



Met Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson said he is ‘very saddened’ and that the internal inquiry is being taken ‘very seriously’.

PC Mark Johnson was given a six-month conditional discharge last year after leaving his two German Shepherds to die in the back of his car

The tragedy comes a year after a Nottinghamshire police officer was prosecuted when two German Shepherds died in the back of his sweltering car.

PC Mark Johnson escaped prison and was handed a six-month conditional discharge.

The 40-year-old returned to the force but is no longer working as a dog handler and was assigned to duties in south Nottinghamshire as an ordinary response officer

During his trial at Nottingham Magistrates' Court on February 22, the judge was told PC Johnson suffered from depression and obsessive compulsive disorder.

This led to him forgetting that he had left the dogs in his car which was parked at Nottinghamshire Police's Sherwood Lodge headquarters near Arnold on June 30 of 2009, the court heard.



During PC Johnson's February trial, the court heard he arrived at work with 18-month-old Jay-Jay and Jet, seven, on one of the hottest days of last year where temperatures peaked at nearly 30C.

He planned to move the two Alsatians into an air-conditioned police car but he got distracted and set about attending meetings and completing his paperwork.

PC Johnson told a court last year that he forgot he had left the animals in searing heat outside Nottinghamshire Police's HQ in Arnold, just north of Nottingham

...BUT IN BATH OFFICERS SMASH IN WINDOWS TO SAVE LIVES OF TWO DOGS FROM A SIMILAR FATE

Police had to scramble into action to save the lives of two dogs who narrowly avoided the same fate.

The owners had left their helpless pets locked in parked cars which quickly became furnaces as outside temperatures rocketed.

Officers were forced to smash the window in both cases to get to the dogs after passers-by saw the animals in obvious distress in the busy city centre of Bath, Avon yesterday.

Now dog owners are being reminded of the dangers of locking their pets in cars during hot weather.

Police have warned that dogs can die from heatstroke in as little as 20 minutes.

PC Karen Hoyle said in warm, sunny weather, cars became like ovens and even if on cloudy days, the temperature inside a car can still be dangerously hot for a dog.

She warned that leaving car windows open or putting a bowl of water inside did not help.

She said 'The owners were caught out by leaving their dogs in the car when the weather was cool - but then it suddenly warmed up when they were away.'

The RSPCA advises that animals should never be left inside cars.

Seven hours later, after a meeting with a sergeant about his mental health problems, the police officer remembered he had left them in the back of his own car and rushed out to find them dead.

The dogs suffered severe heatstroke and would have gone through 'excruciating pain' before they died of kidney failure and cerebral haemorrhage, the trial was told.

PC Johnson, a married father-of-one who has nearly 18 years' service, was suspended at the time of his trial. Police chiefs said following the verdict he would face an internal disciplinary panel.

Nottinghamshire Police was also severely criticised by district judge Tim Devas after it emerged PC Johnson was suffering from depression and OCD but found it difficult to get help.

His illness meant he simply forgot to move his dogs from his own black Ford Mondeo Estate, it was claimed.

He also regularly broke down in tears and was afraid to admit he might have a problem because he believed it could see him transferred off the dog section.

Sentencing PC Johnson, Mr Devas said: 'I have no doubt that had PC Johnson received the help he needed then he wouldn't be standing before me here today.'

Nottinghamshire Police received thousands of emails and calls from dog lovers after the case first hit the headlines last year.

It has since enforced a number of changes.

All dogs must be kept in kennels whilst at Sherwood Lodge and handlers have been given key fobs which alert them to any change in their car's temperature.







