Missouri police officer charged in death of his K-9 partner Horus | State News

A police officer from Savannah, Missouri, has been charged with animal cruelty in connection with the death of his canine partner, Horus.

Lt. Daniel Zeigler and Horus finished their night shift at 4:49 a.m. on June 20, according to the probable cause statement filed by the Missouri Highway Patrol. At 5:54 p.m., Zeigler contacted Savannah Police Chief Dave Vincent and reported that Horus was dead.

When he arrived, Vincent found that Horus had been left in the police vehicle all day and had died from the heat.

Horus, a German shepherd, joined the force in 2021 at almost 2 years old, police said. He worked for the Savannah Police Department. Savannah is about an hour north of Kansas City.

However, on June 26, a functional test of the vehicle was conducted, which revealed that the AceK9 protection system was fully functional on the day of Horus' death.

During one test, the AceK9 security system in the vehicle repeatedly honked, rolled down the rear windows and activated a fan when the interior temperature of the vehicle reached 90 degrees, proving that the system was working and had to be manually deactivated to bypass the security device, court documents say.

A witness saw Zeigler “freaking out” before Vincent arrived on June 20 and said he thought he had brought Horus in after his shift, according to court documents. A second witness, who helped bury Horus later that day, reported hearing Zeigler tell Vincent that Horus' death was his fault.

The nearest weather reporting location, Kansas City International Airport, reported a high of 31.3 degrees Celsius on June 20, 2024, at 3:53 p.m., the probable cause statement said.

As of September 6, no judge had been assigned to the case.