Police dog handler convicted over animal deaths

A police dog handler, whose two German Shepherds died when they were left in a sweltering car, was today found guilty of animal cruelty.

Pc Mark Johnson, 39, was convicted at Nottingham Magistrates' Court of having unnecessarily confined his dogs "in an environment that was detrimental to their well-being".

Johnson, who denied the charge, said he was suffering from depression and obsessive compulsive disorder leading to him forgetting his dogs, 18-month-old Jay-Jay and Jet, seven, on June 30 last year.