Mar 10, 2008 8:20 pm US/Eastern
Officer Charged In Death Of His K9 Partner
MIAMI (CBS4) ―
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Rondal Brown Mug Shot
CBS
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Investigators say the four-year-old bloodhound named Dynasty weighed 33 pounds when she died in November.
CBS
A 20 year veteran of the Miami police force has been charged with animal cruelty in connection with the death of his K9 partner who starved to death.
Investigators say the four-year-old bloodhound named Dynasty weighed 33 pounds when she died in November, though she had weighed almost twice that ten months earlier.
Rondal Brown, who was relieved of duty last month, was charged with one felony count of Cruelty to Animals and one felony count of an Offense against a Police Dog after he turned himself in to authorities Monday morning.
The 48-year-old officer has bonded out of jail.
"It starved to death, every minute, every hour, for almost 30 days," said Sate Attorney Katherine Fernandez-Rundle. "It's a very painful torturous, constant way of dying."
Dynasty was a bloodhound that specialized in finding missing persons. Dynasty was donated to the Miami Police Department in 2004 by the Jimmy Ryce Foundation, which donates bloodhounds to police departments.
Defense Attorney Bill Matthewman said it's "utter nonsense" to claim the officer intentionally harmed or killed his police dog. He claims Brown would never knowingly hurt Dynasty. The dog stayed at the home of Brown, who had been on desk-duty because of heart problems.
"Brown is well respected, he has an excellent record at the City of Miami police department and he would never do anything to harm an animal," said Matthewsman. "Especially a police dog, and especially Dynasty a dog who he dearly, dearly loved and has grieved over since Dynasty's passing."
The investigation into Dynasty's death was launched in November of 2007 when she died inside her dog kennel. The dog's body was taken to the Knowles Animal Clinic where the doctor noticed the dog's sunken eyes and protruding rib cage.
According to police, a necropsy performed at the animal clinic revealed an open wound on the dog's front paw where the bone and tendon were visible. The necropsy also revealed the dog had no body fat or muscle tissue and lacked any food or fecal matter in her intestinal track. The doctors estimated that it would have taken at least a month for the dog to reach its physical condition.
Investigators concluded that Officer Brown intentionally failed to provide Dynasty with the daily care it needed to sustain its life resulting in the dog's death from malnutrition.
Brown, a Miami officer since 1987, is a popular officer with a clean personnel history and more than 30 commendations.
This is the second investigation into the death of a police dog in the last year.
In May, 2007, Miami Dade police Sgt. Allen Cockfield was charged in the death of his police dog named Duke. Cockfield allegedly fatally kicked Duke during a training exercise in 2006. Cockfield, who is awaiting trial, has pleaded not guilty to the charge of animal cruelty and a second charge dealing with the death of a police dog; a third degree felony.
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