WOODSTOCK, Ga. — A Georgia police officer has been suspended and fined after his police dog partner was left in the officer's patrol car and died.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports Woodstock officer Chad Berry is being reassigned to the department's traffic unit after his 10 day suspension. He has also been fined $325.
Woodstock police Sgt. Randy Milligan said Friday the officer's canine partner, a Belgian Malinois named Spartacus, was found dead in Berry's patrol car the night of June 18. Milligan says an investigation found Berry had left the dog in the car when he got home from work. Investigators concluded he didn't intend to harm the animal.
A necropsy determined heat stroke was the probable cause of the dog's death.
Berry had been a police canine handler for seven years.