A Pennsylvania Department of Corrections officer was charged with a summary offense of animal cruelty in the death of a drug interdiction dog that was left locked in a hot car at the State Correctional Institute – Rockview in July.
State police filed the citation against Sgt. Chad Holland with District Judge Kelley Gilette-Walker on Tuesday.
Totti, a 2-year-old yellow labrador retriever, was left in the car for nearly three hours on the afternoon of July 7 following a training exercise. Corrections Secretary John Wetzel said on July 28 that following an internal investigation Holland, Totti’s handler, and his unnamed supervisor had been removed from the Drug Interdiction Unit following an internal investigation by the department’s Office of Special Investigations and Intelligence.
The department also said at the time that an internal review was being conducted to determine if any disciplinary action would be taken. A department spokesperson had not responded as of Wednesday morning to a request for comment on whether any disciplinary action had been taken.
“While the [internal] investigation concluded that this was not an intentional act and we recognize that those involved are devastated by what happened – as all of us are – this does not excuse the outcome,” Wetzel said in July.
Totti was unconscious but alive when officers realized what had happened and rushed to the car. First aid was administered and the dog was taken to a local veterinarian. Totti died several hours later from a heat-related seizure. The high temperature that afternoon was 86 degrees. According to the American Veterinary Medicine Association, the temperature in the car could have reached 130 degrees or higher during that time period.
Holland, 40, of Lock Haven, has been with the department for nine years.
The Drug Interdiction Unit is part of the department’s Security Division and is, in part, responsible for detecting narcotics in the state prisons. This was the first incident of its kind since the unit was established in 1995. The unit has 20 handlers and 22 dogs.
A department spokeswoman previously said Totti had been with the department for about five weeks and was in training to replace an older dog in the unit. Dogs and their handlers have regular mandatory training at a central boot camp and at Rockview. The dog and handler teams work all across the state.
