Dallas, TX - 8/10/2004 - Dallas Morning News - By JASON TRAHAN
The Dallas K-9 officer whose dog died after he left him in a hot patrol car for four hours said he is devastated by the loss but hopes to be able to work with police dogs again.  "I miss him. This was very much unintentional," Senior Cpl. Alex Garcia said.   He said he forgot he had left Queno, an 8-year-old German shepherd, in a patrol car outside his house with the windows rolled up after their shift ended July 30. The high temperature that day was 90.  "I've been with that dog for seven years," Cpl. Garcia said. "He was my right hand. The reason I was working was because of him."  "Now that he's gone, I want another one. I want to stay in this squad, even more now."  Cpl. Garcia, a Dallas officer for 21 years and a dog handler for about 12 years, said he doesn't expect to face criminal charges. Texas' animal cruelty law states that "a person commits an offense if he intentionally or knowingly" tortures, fails to provide necessary food, care or shelter or "abandons unreasonably an animal in his custody," or "transports or confines an animal in a cruel manner," among other things.  "That's for people who have intent to harm an animal, not feeding them or not giving them medical attention," he said. "The way Queno died wasn't a picnic, I know that. He wasn't tortured."  The crime is a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year in prison. But a spokeswoman for Dallas County district attorney's office said charges are unlikely.  "As far as we're concerned, if it's unintentional, it's not considered animal cruelty," spokeswoman Rachel Horton said.  Both criminal and internal investigations are under way, and Cpl. Garcia is on desk duty."It's our intent to refer this to the grand jury," Dallas Police Chief David Kunkle said. "On the administrative side, I can't presume any potential punishment because the investigation isn't complete." Dave Garcia, who investigates animal cruelty cases for the SPCA of Texas, has said the case is a question of accountability for police officers.  "The knowledge or intent, it's really hard to determine a lot of times in cruelty cases I help work around the state," Mr. Garcia said. "He needs to be held accountable, and if that means criminal charges, then that's what should happen."  Chief Kunkle has said that he favors installing safety systems on all vehicles used by K-9 officers. Only a handful of Dallas' 18 dogs are assigned to officers who drive such vehicles now. The $1,000 system lowers the back windows, activates lights and pages the officer when the temperature inside gets too hot for dogs left inside.  Officers routinely leave their dogs inside their vehicles, with the engine running and air conditioning on, when they eat lunch or work.  Cpl. Garcia said his patrol car alley lights - clear lights that shine off the sides of the car - may be what prompted someone, possibly a neighbor, to knock on his front door, leading him to check the car the day he found Queno dead in the back seat, his cage open.  "I think that Queno stepped on them and turned them on," Cpl. Garcia said. "He was probably panicking and running around the car."  He said that he had not been back to the car since about 3 p.m., when he arrived home after work. Normally, he would then put the dog in the backyard kennel he and all K-9 officers have at their homes. "I thought, 'Why are those lights on?' " he said. "Then I saw him in the car. I thought he was in the back yard. It didn't cross my mind that he was in that car."  He said he broke down when he realized the dog was dead. "I went into shock," he said. "It was something I didn't expect to see. I think about that moment every day."  Cpl. Garcia, who handled three police dogs prior to Queno, said he has wracked his brain to explain how he could have left his dog in the car, but still comes up short.  "I was in home mode," he said. "That's the only explanation I can come up with, even to myself. I was thinking that I had put him up. Once you go into the house, your brain skips steps sometimes. It makes you think that you did that already, because of years of routine."  Queno was cremated, and officials have not decided how to memorialize him. Dallas last lost a K-9 on duty in 1999, when someone ran into a police cruiser killing Baltimore, a 5-year-old German shepherd.  Though Cpl. Garcia said he has received nothing but support, Dave Garcia said animal lovers haven't been shy about sharing their outrage with the SPCA.  "I've got about 40 e-mails that I'm going to forward to the chief on this issue," Mr. Garcia said. "I've only had one e-mail that said nothing should happen to this officer. All the rest of them are asking that he be held accountable."  In 2000, a San Diego police officer became what is thought to be the nation's first officer tried for the on-duty death of a police dog. Officer Lawrence Cahill was accused of leaving 7-year-old C.J., a German shepherd, in a police car for more than an hour in summertime heat. The car's air conditioner failed while he was gone, killing the dog. A superior court judge eventually dismissed the misdemeanor animal cruelty charge after a jury failed to reach a verdict.