PETA Statement re No Charges Filed in Death of K-9 Dolar

For Immediate Release:
May 30, 2025

Contact:
Nicole Perreira 202-483-7382

The Oklahoma County District Attorney has announced that no charges will be filed in the death of Dolar, a K-9 used by the Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office, who died after being left in a vehicle on a 99-degree day in September while his handler was in training. The vehicle—which was reportedly found to have an internal temperature over 130 degrees at the time of Dolar’s death—evidently was not equipped with a heat alert system and its air conditioner had a known malfunction. Please see the following statement from PETA Senior Vice President Daphna Nachminovitch:

Baking to death in a hot car is a horrific way for anyone to die, but despite being completely preventable, it’s among the top causes of death for dogs used by police departments. Dogs cannot sweat like humans do, and Dolar surely panicked, vomited, and convulsed in agony as his body temperature soared and his organs shut down. It is unconscionable for any vehicle holding a K-9 not to be equipped with a fully functional heat alert system, and PETA is calling for law enforcement nationwide to protect all of their officers by making these bare minimum precautions mandatory, or better yet, to phase out the use of K-9s altogether.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow PETA on X, Facebook, or Instagram.