Former sheriff’s sergeant pleads guilty to animal neglect after K9 dies in his care – Law Officer

BOONE COUNTY, Iowa – A former Iowa sheriff’s sergeant pleaded guilty in the death of a law enforcement K9 in his care after he left the animal in a patrol vehicle during a hot day last year.

Dallas Wingate was a sergeant with the Boone County Sheriff’s Office when he left K9 Bear in a kennel in the back of a patrol truck for 22 hours in September 2022, resulting in its death. Wingate was first charged with torturing/injuring/killing/threatening a police dog, a class D felony, and animal neglect with serious injury or death, a misdemeanor.

However, Wingate pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor and the felony charge was dismissed, the Des Moines Register reported.

According to the criminal complaint cited by the news outlet, Wingate loaded K9 Bear into the kennel in the back of the sheriff’s truck about 10 p.m. Sept. 1, 2022, since he had been barking at a deer.

K9 Bear remained in the truck’s kennel overnight. Wingate left his residence about 11 a.m. the next morning, Sept. 2, for a meeting at the sheriff’s office. After returning around 3 p.m. he failed again to remove his K9 from the truck, according to the complaint.

At about 8:00 p.m., Wingate finally remembered that K9 Bear had been kenneled in the patrol truck. When he checked on the dog, he was dead, the Des Moines Register reported, citing the complaint.

During the time K9 Bear was kenneled in the truck, he was left without food, water and ventilation. The temperature that afternoon was around 90 degrees.

Wingate’s plea deal will likely result in an 18-month probation and a fine of $855. He had been with the K9 program for roughly 15 years, and resigned from the department following the incident.

Boone County Sheriff Andy Godzicki said, “I am grateful that there was an outcome to this and that there is justice for that K9 dying.”

K9 Bear has a memorial inside BCSO, according to the news outlet. Godzicki said it will be a constant reminder of his service to the agency.

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