Primo, a New Orleans Police K-9 in 2004. Matt Rose / The Times-Picayune / Landov ID: 5874049 
 
 By the time Officer Jason Lewis of the New Orleans Police Department returned to his police SUV, his K-9 — a six-year-old Belgian Malinois named Primo — was battling for his life. While Lewis got ready for his shift, he had left the dog inside the police vehicle. As the temperature inside the SUV rose on that hot May day in 2009, Primo tore, clawed, and bit into the upholstery on the seats — apparently trying to escape to cooler air. His body temperature spiked far above normal for a dog, to almost 110 degrees. When Lewis returned to the vehicle he saw Primo “lying in the back coughing.” The officer hosed down the dog then rushed him to a local veterinary clinic, where the dog subsequently collapsed, suffered three seizures, and died. Cause of death: “shock due to heat stress.” ID: 5876273 
 
 Interior of the police SUV after the officer found Primo “lying in the back coughing.” Metropolitan Crime Commission ID: 5874081 
 
 Primo is one of more than two dozen police K-9s that were left in vehicles and have died of heat-related symptoms since 2007. The animal rights group PETA identified 20 deaths; BuzzFeed News confirmed those and found another nine, based on local and national news reports. Untold numbers of pets die because they are left in cars, but the deaths of police dogs can be particularly heartrending because they, like uniformed officers, put their lives on the line. And these dogs don’t need to die. New technology can warn handlers who’ve left their K-9s in cars. “It is a painful, horrible death,” said Justine Lee, a veterinary specialist in emergency critical care and toxicology for nearly 20 years. “Once a dog’s temperature goes above 105 or 106 degrees, their cells start dying, and they can start going into seizures or have mass organ failure.” With the exception of their paws, dogs lack the sweat glands that humans have on their skin. The main way dogs cool themselves is panting. Lee said that since police dogs are usually German shepherds or Belgian Malinois, with thicker coats and darker hair, they are more susceptible to heat stroke than other breeds. Ike, a Department of Corrections K-9 in Phoenix, died last year after being left in the back of a police vehicle for seven hours after an officer forgot about him. Two police K-9s — Vegas and Hades — perished after they were left in a police vehicle for nearly 30 hours in Bexar County, Texas, in 2012. Again, their officer said he forgot he left them in the kennel portion of the specially equipped police vehicle. (A spokesperson for the Arizona Department of Corrections said that the department installed “a motion-sensing alarm system to help prevent similar accidents from occurring,” while a spokesperson for the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office said it had initiated “extra measures to help ensure incidents like this don’t happen again.”) The vast majority of such K-9 deaths occur in local police forces, but dogs also sweltered to death while in vehicles belonging to airport police, corrections departments, and other types of law enforcement agencies. Forgetting the dog in the car is one problem, but some handlers intentionally put their dog in the vehicle, mistakenly trusting the air-conditioning system to keep running for hours. In a particularly ghastly case, police K-9 Sasha was found in her handler’s SUV after three hot August days in Warwick, Georgia. Lt. T.J. Frye, Sasha’s K-9 handler, told investigators the dog must have made it into the vehicle on her own, according to a local Atlanta TV station WSB. Sasha’s final moments in the car were eerily similar to Primo’s. Both dogs apparently tried to chew through the car to escape. After Frye found Sasha’s bloated and decomposing body in the vehicle, he buried the eight-year-old Dutch shepherd in his backyard. Local residents and city officials expressed shock and grief, demanding that the dog receive a proper burial. An online petition for an investigation into the dog’s death received more than 4,000 signatures. Officer Frye resigned from the force a week after the dog’s death. The Warwick Police Department referred comment to its lawyer, Tommy Coleman, who said the department has “tried to put in place procedures” to prevent such deaths. “When you have public ​officers who serve in the capacity of, basically, a trustee of the public, and they cause the death of an animal who had been charged with serving the same community, most people get really charged,” said Scott Heiser, director of the Criminal Justice Program at the Animal Legal Defense Fund. “These dogs are a voiceless class, much like kids, and they are at that compete mercy of their handlers​.” Across America, there are at least 20,000 working police dogs, said Rick Ashabranner, president of the North American Police Work Dog Association. “Probably 95% of dogs stay with their handler and their family,” said Ashabranner, who worked with a police narcotics dog for 22 years. “It’s no different than owning a pet. The bond is so tight that when they die it’s like losing a family member.” No one knows how many police dogs die annually in hot cars. No federal agency keeps track. The Connecticut Police Work Dog Association tallies K-9s that died in service from all causes. The organization has tallied more than 2,000 K-9 deaths since 1940 from agencies including the Navy, Border Patrol, and local police. K-9s who died of excessive heat because they were left in vehicles are not listed explicitly, but some of those deaths can be found on the website under the category of “Heat Exhaustion.” The 29 deaths confirmed by BuzzFeed News occurred in 14 states from North Carolina to California, and only between April and September. Even on mild summer days, closed vehicles act like a greenhouse. When it’s 85 degrees outside, one study found that in 20 minutes, the temperature inside a car can rise almost to 114°F — almost 30 degrees. After an hour, the inside temperature can hit a scorching 128 degrees. ID: 5876279 
 
 This is how quickly a car can heat up Courtesy Jan Null, CCM; Department of Meteorology and Climate Science, San Jose State University ID: 5874202 
 
 According to historical temperature data, New Orleans hit a high of 88 degrees on May 27, 2009, the day Primo died. In an hour, according to the study, the black-haired dog would have been in temperatures nearing 130 degrees. By comparison, the hottest temperature ever recorded in the United States was 134 degrees in Death Valley, California. Officer Lewis told investigators that he had left the air conditioner on in the vehicle when he left Primo, according to a story in the Times-Picayune. A subsequent police investigation found no wrongdoing, but the district attorney charged Officer Lewis with aggravated cruelty to animals, a felony. Lewis later pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor animal cruelty charge. He was ordered to pay $11,500 to the police department. After almost three years, a court of appeals found that Lewis was not negligent, and reinstated the officer with full pay and benefits. “There’s a huge controversy that he got off,” said Jeff Dorson, the executive director of the Humane Society of Louisiana. “It’s hard to know the truth, but the evidence shows that the dog did die of heat exhaustion, according to the necropsy report. And the fact that he [Lewis] plead guilty originally, what does that tell you?” A spokesman for the NOPD confirmed to BuzzFeed News that Lewis was reinstated to the force but no longer works with a K-9 Unit. The NOPD declined a request to interview Lewis. A 2012 federal consent decree mandated 15 specific changes to how the NOPD handles its K-9s, including “improvements to handler control of canines, personnel changes, and equipment procedures.” “By working in conjunction with the federal consent decree monitor, NOPD has put new and more stringent policies, training and procedures in place for both the dogs and their handlers,” said the department in response to questions by BuzzFeed News. The deaths of Primo, Hades, Vegas, Sasha, and other dogs were preventable. Many police K-9 units use heat alert systems sometimes known as “Hot Dog” or “Hot-N-Pop” systems. The technology varies, but if the vehicle’s interior gets too hot, the alert system automatically rolls down the windows, activates a cooling system or fan, and sets off the vehicle’s siren. According to an investigation by San Antonio’s ABC affiliate, KSAT 12, the Bextar County Sheriff’s Office bought two Hot Dog systems prior to the death of police K-9s Hades and Vegas, but “sat in boxes, untouched on a training room floor for over a year.” It is unclear why the systems, which were bought from a $27,000 grant, were not installed, the article states. A spokesman for the Bextar County Sheriff’s Office emailed BuzzFeed News that Hades and Vegas died “during a previous administration” and that the department has since taken new measures to prevent such deaths. He also wrote that “k9s are considered partners and the loss of them is tremendous for those who interact with them.” Since 2010, the NOPD has installed Hot-N-Pop systems inside every vehicle in the department, according to the NOPD’s statement to BuzzFeed News. “I’ve had those systems installed; I know how well they work,” said Jason Purgason, a former K-9 supervisor with the Reidsville Police Department in North Carolina for 10 years. A Hot Dog system typically costs $500–$1,000 per vehicle. “In the grand scheme of things, those systems are inexpensive,” said Purgason, now a training director for Highland Canine Training in North Carolina. The cost of procuring a police K-9 can vary greatly, but is generally expensive. The Glendale Police Department in Los Angeles County puts the figure around $20,000. The purchase of a dog alone is around $8,000. The additional cost of training of the dog for patrol, detection, and tracking is another $12,000. Total costs including outfitting a vehicle designed to carry a K-9 easily surpass $50,000 — and that figure does not include yearly training maintenance, veterinary care, and food. PETA plans to send letters to K-9 law enforcement organizations around the country urging them to install Hot Dog systems in all vehicles. “No dog should endure a needless, agonizing death while locked in a hot car, and a heat-alert system would be an easy fix,” the statement reads. The beginnings of the modern police dog can be found with the establishment of the first formal police dog training program in Belgium in 1899. Today, K-9s help track fugitive and missing persons, and they detect narcotics and explosives. Last September, as summer was drawing to a close in Montville Township, Ohio, two-year-old Beny was left in a patrol vehicle for more than fours hours, the windows rolled up, while Sgt. Brett Harrison filled out paperwork inside the police station, according to a local report. After Beny’s death, Sgt. Harrison wrote an apology to the township trustees. “Most of all, I want to say I’m sorry to my partner, friend and loving family member Beny. I wish everyday that I could go back and change that day or that I could put myself in your place. You will always be in my heart and I will miss you every second of every day,” Harrison wrote. Sgt. Harrison was given a two-week unpaid suspension, and 40 hours of his vacation time were taken away. Harrison was found guilty of one count of companion animal cruelty in March. Sgt. Harrison and the Montville Police Department did not respond to requests to comment. ID: 5876324 
 
 Police K-9 Beny. Montville Township Police ID: 5874118 ||||| A Tennessee woman has been sentenced to two years in prison for leaving her 3-month-old puppy in a baking car. In the past two decades, such animal cruelty convictions have become more common. 
 
 As the snowpack piles up, is California's drought over? No, say experts. 
 
 In a photo unrelated to the Tennessee case, a small dog cruises as a cool canine on a mid-90 degree day along Orchard Street in Walla Walla, Wash. in August 2012. 
 
 For leaving her puppy in the sweltering Tennessee heat, broiling inside a car, a woman in Memphis has been sentenced to two years in prison. 
 
 On July 29, police officers were called to the Wolfchase Galleria mall in east Memphis. Some shoppers had noticed a little terrier dog in distress inside a Ford Fusion. The window was cracked and a cup of water had been left for the puppy, WREG News reported, but it was not enough. 
 
 The Good Samaritans were able to retrieve the dog from the car and head to a veterinarian, but Boss Lady, the 3-month-old Shorkie Tzu, died before reaching the nearby Bartlett Animal Shelter. 
 
 The late afternoon heat rose to nearly 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Inside the car, the temperature was reported at 140 degrees. Lady Boss’ internal body temperature, according to the Humane Society of Memphis and Shelby County, was at least 110 degrees – the highest the thermometer would reach. The autopsy report said the dog died from extreme hyperthermia and dehydration. 
 
 The puppy’s owners, Alexis Cain and Charlie Parker, had been inside the shopping complex for an undisclosed period of time. At least two hours elapsed between when Boss Lady was found in the car and when they came out of the mall. 
 
 Ms. Cain was the only one convicted Monday, but both were arrested and charged with aggravated cruelty to an animal in July. She will be back in court Dec. 8 to request her sentence be suspended. 
 
 In the past 20 years, local and state governments have become more and more diligent in enacting animal protection laws. In 1992, fewer than 10 states had felony animal cruelty provisions. By 2013, every single state did. The penalties for animal abuse have also become more austere. 
 
 “We’ve seen positive movement in terms of protecting animal rights on two fronts,” Scott Heiser, a senior attorney at the Animal League Defense Fund, tells The Christian Science Monitor. “On the legislative level, there are more provisions with harsher penalties, and on a procedural one, judges are now more likely deliver opinions that recognize the suffering of animals.” 
 
 According to the Animal Legal Defense Fund, “hot car” cases are an unfortunately common form of intentional and unintentional negligence. 
 
 Just 10 days before Lady Boss’ death, a Chihuahua in South Carolina was found inside a Toyota in scorching heat. The window had also been opened a crack but the dog was in distress. It was rescued by a passerby, and the owner was subsequently arrested. And earlier in the summer, a Dachshund-mix puppy was found and rescued from a car in an Oklahoma casino parking lot. 
 
 Dogs, unlike humans, do not have a sophisticated system of sweat glands that makes it easy to stay cool. Under even moderately warm temperatures, the metal interior of a car can rise to dangerously high temperatures. Leaving the window open does not suffice, say animal shelter workers. 
 
 Under current state laws, conviction of animal abuse can range from hefty fines to a sentence of up to 10 years. Felony animal cruelty convictions can result in jail or prison sentences ranging from six months to 10 years. 
 
 In Tennessee, for instance, aggravated cruelty, defined as any conduct “carried out in a depraved and sadistic manner and which tortures or maims an animal,” is a lower class felony, which entails a penalty of at least one year of incarceration. 
 
 “We applaud this judge for taking a very strict approach,” Mr. Heiser says, adding that such a sentence would have been unlikely 10 years ago. 
 
 But while advocates have made significant strides in protecting pets from abuse, agricultural livestock and animals in testing labs are often exempt from any legal rights. 
 
 “At a societal level, we refuse to tolerate suffering among animals that we consider family members, but will turn a blind eye to any additional suffering in the name of food production and experimentation,” Heiser says. 
 
 For animal activists, this means the battle is far from over. ||||| Veteran K-9 officer Daniel Peabody has been accused of killing three of his dogs, two of which were K-9 police dogs. (CBS46) 
 
 Daniel Peabody loved his dogs. 
 
 At least, that’s the way it looked to students whenever Peabody, a hulking and heavily tattooed school cop, strode into northern Georgia classrooms with a K-9 at his side. 
 
 The lieutenant loved his animal partners so much that when one dog retired, Peabody promptly adopted him. 
 
 But Peabody wasn’t the dog savior he portrayed himself to be, authorities say. 
 
 Instead, the veteran K-9 officer now stands accused of leaving one police dog in a roasting car to die and executing another. 
 
 Cherokee Co Schools Police Lt Daniel Peabody could face animal cruelty charges. His K9 Inka died in his hot car. pic.twitter.com/OGqDGohNMz — Matt Johnson (@MJohnsonWSB) June 11, 2016 
 
 On Tuesday, investigators announced that the remains of a third dog — unearthed in Peabody’s back yard — indicated the animal also had been shot, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. 
 
 The alleged case of animal cruelty is all the more bizarre because of the special protections police departments bestow on the expensive and highly trained animals. 
 
 [‘No choice but to start stabbing’: Family fights off retired K-9 as he mauls man who gave him water] 
 
 In Georgia, for instance, it is a felony punishable by up to five years in prison to intentionally kill a K9 — a penalty stiffened just last year after a police dog was killed in the line of duty. 
 
 Few in Cherokee County could have imagined that the biggest threat to a beloved police dog was the man holding its leash. 
 
 Daniel Peabody. (Cherokee County Marshal’s Office) 
 
 The strange story dates to at least 2012, but only came to light last month. 
 
 On June 10, Peabody and his pawed partner, Inca, a four-year-old Belgian Malinois, came home from work about 4:15 p.m. 
 
 Peabody, a 16-year police veteran who had worked with K-9s for five years, rushed inside to deal with another dog, Cherokee County Marshal’s Office Maj. Jamie Gianfala told the Marietta Daily Journal. 
 
 Nearly three hours later, Peabody suddenly remembered he had left Inca in his squad car. When Peabody went outside to check on the dog, she was dead, Gianfala said. 
 
 Gianfala also said Peabody’s 2001 Ford Crown Victoria was not equipped for police dogs. 
 
 “There’s no kennel, there’s no alarms,” he added. “It’s basically just a Crown Vic police car.” 
 
 Gorgeous K9 gone too soon. Inka died when she was left in a hot car. Ch. 2 right now. https://t.co/o07Uq0QIdn pic.twitter.com/7exiUb9KAs — Matt Johnson (@MJohnsonWSB) June 12, 2016 
 
 The temperature that afternoon was in the 90s, “and that was outside, so I’m sure the temperature in that police car was much higher,” added Chief Marshal Ron Hunton. 
 
 Hunton told the Daily Journal that Peabody was visibly distraught over the dog’s death, hyperventilating so badly that he had to be taken to a hospital and passed out at one point. 
 
 “He is very, very upset about the death of his dog,” Hunton said. 
 
 A few days later, Peabody abruptly resigned, according to the Journal-Constitution. 
 
 When authorities investigated Inca’s death, however, they quickly stumbled upon other suspicious incidents involving the K-9 officer and his partners. 
 
 When they asked Peabody about Dale, a yellow lab he adopted in 2012 after five years of working alongside the animal, Peabody initially said the retired dog died in a freak accident. 
 
 Dale, retired k9 living w/former school police Lt. Daniel Peabody. Police say Peabody killed him too. Live at 4 pic.twitter.com/uVkLRwEuXO — Tyisha Fernandes (@TyishaWSB) June 22, 2016 
 
 “Peabody initially claimed Dale’s death was accidental due to Dale choking on a toy,” the marshal’s office said in a statement, according to the Journal-Constitution. “However, the investigation yielded evidence that Dale was in fact shot and killed by Peabody at his Paulding County home.” 
 
 On June 20, investigators executing a search warrant on Peabody’s former home in Paulding County unearthed the remains of a dog they suspected was Dale. 
 
 Peabody was charged with aggravated cruelty to animals and making a false statement to investigators. 
 
 His wife, Tyler Verlander, meanwhile, was cited for operating a dog boarding and training business without a Cherokee County occupation tax certificate, according to the Journal-Constitution. She was also charged with operating a boarding and training business inside a residential district and too close to a residential property. The charges are unrelated to the K-9 deaths. 
 
 On Tuesday, investigators announced yet another twist in the curious case. 
 
 A forensic veterinarian had determined that the dog remains did not, in fact, belong to Dale. 
 
 Instead, they belonged to a Belgian Malinois — possibly Inca’s grandmother. 
 
 The discovery brought to three the number of dogs Peabody is suspected of killing, although authorities say the development won’t affect charges facing the former school cop. 
 
 Dale’s body remains unaccounted for.
– A BuzzFeed investigation this year found at least 29 US police dogs had died of heatstroke in their handlers' cars over the past seven years. But a new analysis of 619 deaths since 2011 by the Green Bay Press-Gazette raises that number to at least 46 dogs, with 18 others succumbing to heatstroke during other activities (e.g., training exercises, being tethered outside in the sun), putting heatstroke as the No. 1 cause of police dog deaths for non-medical reasons. Failures in the cars' AC or other equipment were factors in 19 of the 46 cases, while officer negligence was blamed in 26. One especially egregious case in 2013 involved 10 US Customs and Border Protection dogs who died after the AC failed. "Those dogs were essentially in an oven," a rep said at the time. "You don't have to be an animal lover to be sick about this." It's unclear exactly how many police dogs die this way, since agencies don't have to report it, the Press-Gazette notes; instead, stats are typically culled from memorial websites and other sources. "It is a painful, horrible death," a veterinary specialist told BuzzFeed. Departments are taking measures including replacing faulty heat-alarm units, mounting fans in car windows, and inspecting AC units more regularly. But advocates say it comes down to human diligence. "It's not a matter of changing policy," the director of a Wisconsin canine handler group tells the Press-Gazette. "Check on your dog." An Animal Legal Defense Fund director puts it in harsher terms: "An officer who allows a dog to die of heat exhaustion on duty is as neglectful as leaving a service revolver on a school playground." (A Florida officer was "distraught" after two police dogs died in his car.)