CCTV footage showing the harrowing final moments of a service dog that died of heat stroke while in police kennels was shown in Summary Court yesterday at the trial of a K9 officer charged in connection with the incident.
The trial of Constable Timothy Munroe, who denies one count of cruelty to an animal, resumed Wednesday. The charge does not allege that Munroe was responsible for the dog’s death.
He is accused of causing the animal unnecessary pain and suffering by failing to provide food and water.
K9 Baron, a 6-year-old Belgian Malinois shepherd mix, died after being left in the outside kennels at that George Town Police Station during a hot summer day in July 2022.
Taking the stand on Wednesday 6 Dec., Byron Morgan, a former animal welfare officer with the Department of Agriculture who was involved in the independent investigation into the incident, talked the court through the main highlights of 12 hours of CCTV footage from the day of Baron’s death.
The somewhat obscured footage showed Munroe arriving at the kennels in the morning and spending 20 minutes doing an animal welfare check before departing for the day.
The footage showed that Baron had been locked in the outside kennels – without access to food and water that was left indoors.
Later in the footage the dog can be seen appearing sluggish before slumping to the ground.
At around 5.30pm that evening Munroe is seen returning and discovering the dog motionless. The court has previously heard that at this point, the officer raised the alarm.
‘A lamb to the slaughter’
Later in the proceedings, defence attorney Dennis Brady, challenged Morgan over the statements he had given and the report he produced as part of his investigation into Byron’s death.
Brady claimed his client was “a lamb to the slaughter,” who was being targeted by a hidden group of senior officers who were seeking to “hide their incompetence” and sought to bypass the system by instigating an investigation through the Office of the Ombudsman.
“You say you got an email claiming that a police officer needed to be investigated, and you never clarified who lodged the complaint?” Brady asked Morgan, in reference to his statement.
Morgan told the court that the email from the Ombudsman’s office simply stated that an investigation should be carried out to determine whether a police service dog died, and if so how.
Turning his attention to Morgan’s investigation report, Brady claimed the document was drafted to ensure Munroe appeared bad.
“You cannot say for sure what my client saw, yet you say he was looking at the dog,” said Brady in reference to one section.
He added, “And would you agree that by simply writing that he used his foot on the dog to check and see if it was still alive, this could be misunderstood as if he kicked the animal?”
Morgan accepted that such an understanding could be gleamed from the commentary, but added that this was never his intention.
The trial continues on Thursday. Munroe, who has pleaded not guilty to the charge, was released on bail.
Related Videos
