A master police officer with the Columbia Police Department was suspended for leaving his K9 partner in his patrol car for more than 6 hours leading to the dog's death.
Chief Skip Holbrook held a press conference Friday to discuss the investigation into the K9, Turbo, death in July.
Master Police Officer David Hurt is currently suspended for five days without pay for the dog's death because he violated departmental policy.
However, he will not face criminal charges, even after internal affairs turned its paperwork over to prosecutors.
Prosecutors said Hurt used terrible judgment but wasn't criminally negligent, according to Yahoo News.
Halbrook said he did not fire Hurt since he reported the death right away. But he will not be allowed to work with k9s in the future.
Though Officer Hurt left the air conditioning on, he turned off the heat alarm and left the windows of his patrol car open on July 26.
Hurt also did not come to the patrol car to let the K9 out to use the restroom Holbrook said.
Hurt had the 22-month-old explosive-sniffing dog for 7 months.
Holbrook states that Hurt did not give any logical reason to keep the dog in the car.
Hurt left the dog in the car while attending active shooter training at a high school. Hurt was not the only officer that left a K9 partner, but he is the only one that did not check on the K9 frequently, including for bathroom breaks.
When he finally returned to the car, the dog was foaming at the mouth. The K9 was put down two days later for organ failure.
The temperature that day reached 94 degrees, according to National Weather Service
In the conference, Halbrook states in training and medical bills the department spent about $25,000 into Turbo.
