A Savannah, Missouri, Police officer has been charged with animal abuse in relation to the death of his K-9 partner named Horus. Investigators say he disabled a K-9 heat alert system in the vehicle.

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, the Kansas City Star reports.

When he arrived, Vincent found out Horus, a German shepherd, had been left in the police vehicle all day and died of heat exposure.

The vehicle was equipped with an AceK9 system designed to alert officers that heat levels in the vehicle had reached dangerous levels. A functionality test showed the AceK9 system 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.

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.