Oklahoma County DA identifies equipment failure in K9 Dolar's tragic passing in Cleveland County

A Cleveland County Sheriff's Office deputy will not face charges for the death of his K9. Officer Dolar died from heat exposure after being left inside his handler's vehicle during a training last year.

Oklahoma County District Attorney Vicki Behenna announced on Wednesday that after a thorough investigation by the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation prosecutors determined the death of Officer Dolar was not criminal in nature.

The investigation into the K9’s death was launched eight months ago. The beloved K9 officer was left inside his handler’s vehicle on a hot September day during a training. The deputy radioed dispatch a Code 3 while driving to a Norman animal hospital.

Officer: “K9 Dolar had a heat emergency at training. We’ll be in route.”

Sheriff Chris Amason requested the OSBI to investigate the death.

Behenna said in a statement, "This was a failure all the way around." Behenna said the investigation discovered the vehicle assigned to Dolar's handler did not have a built-in kennel or a heat alarm system. The vehicle that was properly equipped as a K9 unit was removed from Dolar's handler a month before his death. That vehicle was used as a pool car while another handler's vehicle was being repaired.

Behenna noted the Oklahoma Drug Dog Standards and Guidelines #12 states, a vehicle used to transport a police dog should be equipped with a heat sensor monitoring device.

The DA added, "I hope moving forward that all Cleveland County Sheriff's Office K-9 handlers are provided the appropriate vehicle and equipment to keep the K-9 Officers safe and avoid another death like Dolar's.”

Sheriff Amason said in a statement released on social media that he takes full responsibility for the failure and esured it will never happen again. The department has done an internal review and are currently implementing new safeguards and precedures to protect their K9 partners. Amason did say if the deputy has returned to duty and in what capacity.

Dolar's handler is currently assigned to the detention center as a deputy sheriff. 

The OSBI's investigation revealed it was known the air conditioning in the vehicle assigned to Dolar's handler had problems. Specifically, the vehicle would stop blowing cold air when idling.