Animal advocates and public safety officials are pushing awareness after the deaths of two dogs in the summer heat in Effingham County this month.
One of the dogs, a Savannah State University K-9, was apparently left in its handler’s vehicle while he accidentally fell asleep. In the second case, police said they plan to charge a woman with cruelty to animals after her dog hanged itself on a cable when left outside with no access to water when the heat index was higher than 100 degrees.
Death of a police dog
On July 10, Savannah State University police officer Max Barber arrived at his Rincon home for lunch just after 1 p.m. and took food inside for his family. The 23-year-old man told a Rincon police detective that he was exhausted — he and his wife had just had a baby three weeks earlier — and that he intended to go back outside and grab his K-9 partner, Sgt. Baston, after bringing the food in. He ate, however, and promptly fell asleep.
Barber told police he woke up about 5 p.m., remembered Baston and ran outside. He opened the back door to the kennel in the police vehicle and saw the dog wasn’t moving, then carried him inside and tried to revive him with cold water. The dog, however, had died.
Barber alerted his superior officers, who arrived and called local police.
Detective D. Wood noted in a report that the temperature in Rincon was between 95-97 degrees while the dog was in the car.
Rincon Police Chief Phillip Scholl said the case was turned over to Solicitor Mark Lee, who will determine whether Barber will face charges. The chief said any charges would be misdemeanors since Baston’s death was accidental and there was no evidence of malice.
Baston had been a K-9 at Savannah State for five years, and Barber no longer works at the university.
“The Savannah State University family is saddened by the loss of K-9 officer Baston, a German shepherd, at the age of 7,” read a statement issued by the college Tuesday. “He contributed significantly to the safety of all on the SSU campus for the past five years. Baston’s skills were also employed to assist surrounding law enforcement agencies and departments.”
Cruelty charge in pit bull death
A Rincon woman whose pit bull died after being tied up all day without water and apparently hanged itself will be charged with cruelty to animals, police said.
Mary Berryman Bozin, 57, told officers she left the dog outside while she was moving from a residence on Williams Street on July 18.
“She informed me that she has been moving all day and didn’t think she was going to be out so long,” officer Fonzie Smith wrote in a report.
The dog was left on a cable hooked to a wooden pole by the front porch. A neighbor concerned about the dog’s welfare called the landlord and police, but the dog died before help arrived.
The neighbor said the dog appeared exhausted from the heat and lack of water and couldn’t get up and ended up hanging itself.
Smith said the heat index was higher than 100 degrees.
Scholl said Wednesday that Bozin will be charged with cruelty to animals.
Staying aware
It’s a bad idea to leave a dog outside at anytime, said Lynn Gensamer, executive director of the Humane Society for Greater Savannah.
“When it’s hot, it’s even more serious,” Gensamer said. “There needs to be shade. There needs to be water. Ideally, it would be great to have a kiddie pool with some water in it because dogs have difficulty dissipating heat since they don’t sweat.”
The situation can be even more dire when vehicles are involved — regardless of whether or not windows are rolled down.
“The thing about cars is people really don’t realize how hot it gets and how quickly it can get hot even with windows open,” Gensamer said. “It can be 78 degrees outside and it can be 90 in the car and it just keeps going up from there.
“If you are going anywhere that you can’t take your dog in with you, then leave your dog at home. Ten minutes at the grocery store can turn into an hour.”
It’s an issue police and firefighters respond to across the county. Since the beginning of July, people have called 911 six times about dogs being left in cars in Pooler, said Fire Chief Wade Simmons. Firefighters there have responded to 38 such cases this year.
Simmons said most of the cases are along the busy Interstate 95 corridor, and they’re typically related to people leaving animals alone while they run into shopping centers such as Wal-Mart or Tanger Outlets. Usually, air-conditioning is left on, but that’s still not a good idea.
Unless the case appears to be an emergency, firefighters will take the vehicle’s tag number, go inside the store, and ask staff to call the person over an intercom.
“We educate them,” Simmons said.
The fire department is dispatched along with police — and they roll with lights and sirens when the call is for a kid left in a vehicle. Last year, Simmons said, that happened 28 times.
Fortunately, other shoppers tend to notice.
“The other people see it and they call,” Simmons said.