By Noelle Alviz-Gransee
The Kansas City Star
SAVANNAH, Mo. — A Savannah, Missouri, Police officer has been charged with animal abuse in relation to the death of his K-9 partner named Horus.
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Lt. Daniel Zeigler and Horus completed their overnight 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 said Horus was dead.
When he arrived, Vincent found out Horus had been left in the police vehicle all day and died of heat exposure.
Horus, a German Shepard, joined the department in 2021 when he was almost 2-years-old, police said. He worked for the Savannah Police Department. Savannah is about an hour north of Kansas City.
A functionality test was done on the vehicle on June 26, however, that found AceK9 system safeguard was fully functional the day Horus died.
When tested, the AceK9 safeguard system inside the vehicle repeatedly honked, rolled down the rear windows and activated a fan when the internal temperature of the vehicle reached 90 degrees; proving the system was working and had to have been manually deactivated to bypass the safeguard, court documents said.
A witness saw Zeigler “flipping out” before Vincent arrived on June 20, saying he thought he brought Horus in after his shift, according to court records. A second witness who helped bury Horus later that day reported they heard Zeigler tell Vincent Horus’ death was his fault.
The nearest weather reporting location, Kansas City International Airport, reported a high of 88 degrees Fahrenheit at 3:53 p.m. on June 20, 2024, the probable cause statement said.
As of Sept. 6, no judge has been assigned to the case.
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