MONROE COUNTY, Ga. — Monroe County's sheriff is backing his decision on how to discipline a deputy. As we reported Wednesday, a 4-year-old K-9 named Khan died after being left in the heat.
Sheriff Brad Freeman says Officer Willie Barkley made a mistake by accidentally forgetting the dog in a hot patrol car.
Many of you have responded to this story on social media.
Janice Gallemore commented on our post, saying "I'm sure he loved this animal because it was assigned to him and he was responsible for him daily." Brooke Kitchens says, "What a horrible accident. I am sure the officer is heartbroken."
But some have questioned how the deputy should be disciplined.
Don Cooke commented, "Absolutely no excuse for this to happen. He should be fired, period." Paula Thompson argued, "He should be charged with animal cruelty."
We took those concerns to Monroe County Sheriff Brad Freeman.
"I'm sure people are upset about the dog. We're upset about the dog. We certainly didn't take it lightly. Obviously, we didn't treat it lightly," Freeman said.
He says the disciplinary action handed to Deputy Barkley works out to more than if he was convicted of animal cruelty.
"Well, if you look at it solely monetarily, certainly. It's $12,000 or $13,000 actually versus $1,000," Freeman said.
According to Georgia law, the penalty for a misdemeanor of animal cruelty is up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine.
Deputy Barkley was suspended for five days without pay, amounting to about $852.
Then, he lost his K-9 pay and was demoted two pay grades from sergeant to deputy.
Sheriff Freeman says Barkley took a $12,640 cut from his annual salary.
"As long as he works here, until he gets more raises or get his salary back up, which will take a period of time," Freeman said.
On top of that, Freeman says Barkley will no longer be able to work with Monroe County K-9s.
Freeman says the sheriff's office took every necessary step in the case, including notifying the District Attorney's office about the Internal Affairs investigation, hours after Khan's death was reported. That investigation concluded Barkley accidentally left Khan in the car.
"The lieutenant over Internal Affairs met with him, told him what all he had and the district attorney told us he was not interested in the prosecution. He thought, felt it was an accident also," Freeman said, "And if the District Attorney would have felt different than us -- he's the ultimate decider of if someone is prosecuted or not -- if he told us he would prosecute, we would have had no choice."
We reached out to District Attorney Jonathan Adams about the decision. He declined to comment.
Sheriff Freeman says Barkley has had two commendations since he was hired in 2018 and no write-ups. This is the first time Barkley has been disciplined since he was hired three years ago.