A Florida police officer has been relieved of duty after two police dogs were found dead in the officer’s vehicle.
Authorities believe the two dogs, Jimmy, a 7-year-old bloodhound, and Hector, a 4-year-old Belgian Malinois, spent several hours in Hialeah Officer Nelson Enriquez’s SUV Wednesday before dying, the Miami Herald reports.
Investigators found that Enriquez left the dogs in his police vehicle in his home driveway. He got home early Wednesday morning after a midnight shift and left the dogs in the SUV. Then Enriquez didn’t contact Davie police, the Miami Herald reports, until 6:50 p.m. that night.
“He entered his home sometime in the mid-to-late morning and left the dogs in the vehicle,”Hialeah Police Officer Carl Zogby told CBS Miami. “He discovered sometime late afternoon, probably preparing for his next shift, he discovered what had happened. He discovered the dogs in his car, in his driveway. You can imagine his reaction at that point. Like I had said before, these are two beloved members of his family.”
Enriquez, a veteran of 13 years, had worked with one of the dogs for more than six years and said he considered them family.
Enriquez has been relieved of duty with until the investigation is over.
Officer Nelson Enriquez with Jimmy (left) and Hector. (Hialeah Police Department)
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