The DPS dog left in a patrol car for more than an hour Wednesday has been euthanized.
Jeg, a 7-year-old Belgian Malinois, was put down Thursday afternoon after "a specialist was trying to treat him and his neurological signs and body functions were decreasing," said Officer Carrick R. Cook, an Arizona Department of Public Safety spokes-man.
The drug-sniffing DPS dog reached "a point where he wasn't going to turn around - he was going to start to suffer," Cook said.
The decision was made Thursday afternoon by the canine district commander - Capt. Jenna Mitchell - who was by Jeg's side, along with his handler, Officer Korey Lankow, Lankow's wife and others.
Jeg was rushed to a veterinary hospital Wednesday by Tucson Fire Department paramedics, and was doing well overnight but took a turn for the worse Thursday morning. Jeg had signs of organ damage, Cook said.
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Jeg was left in a squad car by Lankow, who was switching vehicles at local DPS headquarters, 6401 S. Tucson Blvd. Lankow realized he had left the dog in the first car while on his way to a rollover on Interstate 19, and turned around to retrieve Jeg, getting there about noon, Cook said. The noon temperature in Tucson Wednesday was 98 degrees.
Since the incident, Lankow had been with the dog "100 percent of the time," even sleeping by the dog's side, Cook said.
Jeg and Lankow worked together for nearly three years and were very close, Cook said.
"I want to make sure people understand that this officer is emotionally ruined by this event," Cook said. "His wife is really hurt by this, his kids are hurt."
Lankow, whose name was released by the DPS on Thursday, came to the state agency in October 2005 after a 22-year career with the Air Force, the DPS said in a news release.
After his academy training, he was assigned to the Tucson Highway Patrol district for several years before being selected for the Border Crimes Unit.
Lankow became a K-9 officer in 2009. He remains on paid administrative leave.
The DPS asked the Tucson Police Department to conduct a criminal investigation into the circumstances surrounding Lankow's leaving Jeg in the patrol car.
The DPS will conduct an internal investigation to see whether Lankow followed departmental rules and procedures.
No decisions have been made on whether a service will be held for Jeg, Cook said.
Contact reporters Carmen Duarte at 573-4104 or cduarte@azstarnet.com; or Veronica M. Cruz at vcruz@azstarnet.com or 573-4224.
