San Diego city attorney sues cop whose dog died

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

San Diego City Atty. Michael Aguirre on Friday filed a civil complaint in Superior Court seeking damages from Officer Paul Hubka, whose police dog died of heat stroke while left in Hubka’s squad car.

Aguirre wants Hubka to pay the cost of acquiring and training a replacement for his dog. He said the cost exceeds $25,000.

‘Since 9/11, police dogs have become hard to replace because of the high demand for them worldwide,’ said Executive Asst. City Atty. Don McGrath.

The Belgian Malinois, a medium-sized dog with great stamina and intelligence, is used by police departments across the U.S., including the Nashville Police Department, whose dog is seen above. Like the San Diego department, Nashville gets its Belgian Malinois from breeders in Europe.

Aguirre’s announcements comes as the San Diego County district attorney is determining whether to file a criminal charge against Hubka under a law that makes it a crime to leave a dog in a car on a hot day. Hubka’s police dog, a five-year-old Belgian Malinois named Forrest, died while left in his squad car on a day when the temperature exceeded 100 degrees.

Hubka, a 22-year veteran of the Police Department, remains on duty but has been removed from the canine squad.

Aguirre announced on Monday that he will not approve the payment of $50,000 to Hubka, his share of a settlement of a lawsuit filed by three officers claiming the city owed them extra pay for their canine duties. Hubka’s attorney protested that the payment had already been approved by the City Council and was unrelated to the death of Hubka’s dog.

Hubka allegedly left Forrest in his squad car after he returned to his home in Alpine after working an overnight shift. Hours later the dog was found dead. City policy requires officers on the canine squad to responsible for their dogs 24 hours a day.

With 45 dogs used for patrol and detection, the San Diego department says it has the largest canine unit of any department in the country. Among its dogs are German shepherds, Rottweilers, and Belgian Malinois.

All dogs undergo an eight-week, 120-hour training schedule.

-- Tony Perry, in San Diego