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Officer Involved In Deaths of Three K-9s Gets Animal Cruelty Charges Dropped

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An officer in Cherokee Country, Georgia, was just acquitted of multiple animal cruelty charges, after the death of three of his K-9 parters.Lt. Daniel Peabody, 50, was arrested last June after hisBelgian Malinois, Inka, was left in a hot car for four hours unsupervised and subsequently died.

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Source: Cherokee County School District 

According to Peabody, he had forgotten the four-year-old dog was still in the unventilated patrol car until he noticed she wasn't in her kennel a few hours later. Shedied of heat stroke.The officer raised Inka from when she was a puppy. They worked together in a local school, where they completed law-enforcement duties and even drug detection. Peabody was thought to be a huge animal lover.

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Source: Cherokee County Police Department

However, a tip was given to police to look into his past history with other canines. They quickly discovered that he had another partner from 2007-2012. Dale was a Golden Labrador Retriever.When Dale took his retirement in 2012, his partner decided to adopt him, so he could live out the rest of his days in peace. Unfortunately, his days were cut short when, according to Peabody, the dog choked on a toy and died.

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 Source: Tyisha Fernandes

After conducting a search of his home, investigators discovered the body of a canine on the property. But this dog was killed by a gun shot wound.Peabody claimed that, in fact, Dale didn't choke, he was sick, and so he shot the canine to put him out of his misery. Further investigation showed that the buried body of the dog was not a Labrador, but a Belgian Malinois like Inka.There is a possibility that it could be her grandmother, but the body of Dale still hasn't been found.

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Source: Cherokee County Police Department

Despite the deaths of three dogs on his hands, as of January 18, Peabody will not be facing charges of animal cruelty.Judge Jackson Harris, of the Cherokee Superior Court, through out those charges and he is only facing one count of lying to police.Prosecutors are applying to appeals courts to try and will try and seekre-indictment against Peabody.Here's hoping that Inka, Dale and the third dog get their due justice.

H/t: New York Times

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