A Cherokee County, Georgia School police dog died after it was left in the back of a patrol car for nearly three hours.
Investigators said that Lt. Daniel Peabody told them Friday that he arrived around 4:15 p.m. and left the 4-year-old Belgian Malinois named Inka in the car -- with the engine turned off -- while he dealt with another dog inside his home, according to WSB-TV.
"He gets out, turns the car off, gets busy with his wife helping another dog, and apparently he simply forgot about the dog, accidentally," Cherokee County Marshal's Office Chief Ron Hunton told reporters.
It wasn't until around 7 p.m. that the officer remembered he left Inka in the patrol car and discovered the dog had died.
Temperatures reached the 90s and the cruiser that Peabody was driving that day was not one of the department's K-9 vehicles and wasn't equipped with alarms or a kennel.
Peabody was reportedly so upset by the dog's death he experienced trouble breathing and passed out.
"Peabody was very distraught, very despondent over it, naturally, even to the point where he was transported to the hospital last night," Hunton said.
Cherokee County Marshal's Office officials said that criminal charges are possible in this case, but that the investigation is ongoing.
