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Own Motion Investigation – K9 Baron
Own Motion | 01 December 2023
Royal Cayman Islands Police Service (RCIPS)
On Saturday 9 July 2022 at 7:45 p.m., the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service (RCIPS) notified the The Office of the Ombudsman (“the OMB”) that Police Dog Baron (K9 Baron) had died in his kennel at George Town Police Station (GTPS) after a police dog handler had failed to open the shaded part of the dog Kennel leaving K9 Baron outside and exposed to the elements.
After assessing the circumstances and the preliminary reports provided by the police, the OMB commenced an ‘own motion’ investigation on 12 July 2022. The investigation was initiated pursuant to section 3(c) of the Act which permits the Ombudsman to deal with any other matter whether or not it is the subject of a complaint provided the Ombudsman is of the opinion that it should be investigated because of its gravity or its exceptional circumstances or because it is in the public interest.
An initial severity assessment had to consider that the officer may have committed an offence pursuant to The Animal Act. The OMB is not a prosecuting agency; therefore, a decision was made that the Department of Agriculture (DOA) would be the most suitable investigatory body to conduct an independent investigation with our oversight, along with our own parallel investigation into the ‘Conduct’ of the police officer.
Our office can provide oversight, pursuant to s. 3 (d) of the Law – to keep under review any investigation undertaken by the Unit (PSU), an investigatory body or a person authorised by the Unit or the Ombudsman under this Law.
As part of our review, the OMB conducted an early inspection of the kennels along with the DOA and identified several areas needing immediate attention. These included:
- The need for a permanent roof outside the kennels, which are located outside in the back of the police station property.
- The need to clean debris from unused kennels and the removal of chemical cleaning supplies from the kennel area
- The need to provide an enrichment area for the police dogs to exercise.
- The creation of a welfare and observation log for each RCIPS dog handler
- The need for air conditioning maintenance at the kennels to be conducted on a regular basis.
- The need to clear debris outside the kennels to prevent rats from entering the area and potentially biting the dogs.
Based on these findings, the OMB made recommendations to the RCIPS, and periodic inspections of the kennels were conducted. All the above recommendations have been implemented.
A file was submitted to the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) on 13 September 2022 and the trial was concluded in December 2023. The OMB will not be substantively commenting on her own findings until the completion of any action taken by the Cayman Islands Court.