A Pennsylvania Department of Corrections officer was found guilty of a summary offense of cruelty to animals in the death of a drug interdiction dog that was left locked in a hot car at the State Correctional Institute – Rockview in July.
Sgt. Chad Holland, 40, was convicted Wednesday after a one-day bench trial before District Judge Kelley Gillette-Walker. He was sentenced to two days in the Centre County Correctional Facility and a $300 fine.
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.
According to the Centre County District Attorney’s Office, after the training ended Holland returned to the Drug Interdiction Unit office ar Rockview at around noon and began unloading the car with Totti still in the vehicle. During that time, Holland took a phone call and walked into a building where he later began talking to a colleague
Totti was unconscious but alive when officers returned to the car. First aid was administered and the dog was taken to a local veterinarian but never regained consciousness. Totti died five 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.
Corrections Secretary John Wetzel said on July 28 that following an internal investigationHolland, 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.
