AUBURN, Ind. (AP) - An Indiana sheriff's deputy has been suspended following the death of a police dog that he left for hours inside a hot patrol car.
The DeKalb County Sheriff's Department says Deputy Courtney Fuller is suspended without pay for 30 days. The department says an investigation determined Fuller didn't commit a crime but that he violated employee standards of conduct.
Sheriff Don Lauer says Fuller left Mojo in his patrol car outside his home at 3 p.m. July 6. He was distracted by a situation involving his newborn child and forgot Mojo, finding him dead four hours later.
A Purdue University necropsy found the dog's death was consistent with heat stroke.
The department says Fuller will no longer be a canine handler.
DeKalb County is 150 miles (240 kilometers) northeast of Indianapolis.
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