US cop charged with animal cruelty after killing top drug dog

Nix was apparently the first and only police dog the Mills, Wyoming police station ever had - then one police officer left him in a hot patrol car for several hours.

Nyx didn't survive, and now Zachary Miller is facing charges of animal cruelty according to the Casper Star Tribune.

Miller had left the dog in the car with the engine running outside the police station for six hours, but hadn't put the aircon on.

“It’s not normal to leave a car running that long,” said Mills police chief Bryon Preciado. “I’m not justifying it. He shouldn’t have been here that long.”

Nyx was a ten year-old black Labrador, who had been with the department since 2006. Miller was the dog's handler for two years, during which it lived with his family and went on family vacations.

According to the NY Daily News, Nyx was also one of the best narcotics dogs the Wyoming police ever had.

“Everyone was hurt by her loss,” Preciado said.

Miller has pleaded not guilty, and was released on a $500 bond. If convicted, he will be fined $750.