SALT LAKE CITY — The death of a K9 officer with the Utah Department of Corrections is believed to be heat-related after he was left inside a vehicle Thursday at the correctional facility in Salt Lake City.
On Friday, Department of Corrections Executive Director Brian Redd addressed the death of Loki, an 8-year-old Belgian Malinois, who had been with the K9 unit since 2017.
"Obviously, our department is devastated, but none more than his handler," said Redd. "I've been in contact with his handler, he's obviously devastated, but he's working through the tragedy and we're standing in close contact with him and his family."
Few details regarding Loki's death were made available, with Redd saying it wasn't known how long the K9 officer was in the vehicle before he was found, and whether the windows were down.
The vehicle, which was parked near the kennel of the Utah State Correctional Facility, is designed for K9 officers and includes a heat detection system. An investigation into the death will determine whether the system was operational before Loki died.
While the Department of Public Safety is conducting the overall investigation, Redd said the Department of Corrections will hold an internal review of K9 policies and procedures.
"Our aim is to protect our K9s and in this review, our aim is to protect these K9s and support our handlers in carrying out and completing their work. So if there are improvements that we identify in our review, we will be taking action," said Redd.
The department said Loki was one of seven K9s that worked at both the Utah State Correctional Facility and Central Utah Correctional Facility in drug detection, fugitive apprehension, facility security and emergency response.
Loki's handler is being given time away from the job to deal with his K9's death.
"This is a really difficult thing that he is going through right now," Redd said of the unidentified handler. "Once we have the results of the investigation and we kind of know where the officer is in this process of healing and in getting over this, we'll make that determination together with the officer when it's best for him to come back."
Dr. Ariel Nelson with Wilson Veterinary Hospital was devastated to hear the news about Loki, but not entirely shocked.
“It's heartbreaking honestly that an animal that's gone through so much time in training and things like that has to pass away," she said. "Our ER clinics here are probably seeing it weekly, especially this time of year, and we've had some really, really hot days lately.”
Too often people leave their pets in their cars during the summer, said Dr. Nelson.
“I definitely don't recommend leaving animals in a car at all," she said. “I wouldn't leave them longer for a few minutes, honestly.”
Redd said Loki had been with his handler for six years.
“Our handlers are allowed to leave their canine in the car during periods of the day," he said. "Obviously, having said that, it needs to be a safe situation for the canine.”
UDOC will be reviewing its K-9 policy and procedures while they continue investigating what exactly happened with Loki.
“This was a vehicle designed for canines," said Redd. "So we're hoping to get out of the investigation if this was an equipment failure or some type of operational operator error.”
Loki’s handler is ‘devastated’ about what happened, and the UDOC is giving him time at home to grieve before they move forward with any kind of disciplinary action, said Redd.
“This is a tragedy for all of our department, and it impacts all of us in the community as well," he said. "We acknowledge there are a lot of emotions surrounding this incident and want to assure you that we're feeling them as well. We will work through this. We'll learn from it, and we'll be better going forward.”
