Mo. city fires police officer charged with animal abuse in K-9 partner’s death

By Kendrick Calfee
The Kansas City Star

SAVANNAH, Mo. — A Missouri city voted to fire a police officer who has been charged with animal abuse in the death of his K-9 partner.

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Savannah, Missouri’s Board of Alderman voted in a closed session meeting Monday to terminate Lt. Daniel Zeigler, the city announced on social media.

Zeigler and his K-9 Horus had completed their overnight shift at 4:49 a.m. on June 20, according to a probable cause affidavit filed in Andrew County Circuit Court. At 5:54 p.m., Zeigler contacted police chief Dave Vincent and said Horus was dead.

Vincent found Horus had been left in the police vehicle all day and died of heat exposure, the affidavit said.

Horus joined the Savannah Police Department in 2021 when he was almost 2 years old, police said. Savannah is about 45 minutes north of Kansas City.

Investigators tested the functionality of an AceK9 system on Zeigler’s vehicle June 26, which found that the system safeguard was fully functional the day Horus died, court records said.

When tested, the AceK9 safeguard system inside the vehicle repeatedly honked, rolled down the rear windows and activated a fan when the internal temperature of the vehicle reached 90 degrees. This proved the system was working and had to have been manually deactivated to bypass the safeguard, court documents said.

The Kansas City International Airport reported a high of 88 degrees at 3:53 p.m. on June 20, 2024, the probable cause statement said.

According to court documents, a witness heard Zeigler say he thought he brought Horus in after his shift. Another witness who helped bury the K-9 said they heard Zeigler tell Vincent Horus’ death was his fault.

Horus’ death captured the attention of the Savannah community and region as people began to ask for justice for Horus.

Zeigler faces one count of animal abuse, a class A misdemeanor. He is due to appear in court at 1 p.m. Oct. 8 in Division 5 of Andrew County Circuit Court.

The Star’s Noelle Alvis-Gransee contributed.

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