CCSD officer enters plea after K9 left in vehicle over 6 hours, causing its death

A Clark County School District police officer accused of leaving his “K-9 partner” in his vehicle for several hours with no water, causing the dog’s death, pleaded not guilty this week.

According to court records, the officer, James Harris, entered his plea on Tuesday.

Harris faces misdemeanor counts of confining an animal in a motor vehicle and failing to provide for a confined animal.

A CCSD police affidavit said that in addition to no water being left for K-9 Marley, there were also no “sufficient airflow or temperature controls,” police said.

He was assigned to Foothill High School for the school day on Nov. 14, when the assigned officers were absent, according to the affidavit.

K-9 Marley was in the kennel of Harris’ department vehicle, police said.

Harris, a CCSD police officer since 2003 and a K-9 handler since 2019, said in a statement that he shut off the air in the passenger part of the car but left it on for the dog and kept the vehicle running, police wrote.

He admitted to failing to check on Marley for the time he was assigned to the school, according to the affidavit, and said he disconnected a heat sensor designed to open the windows, turn on a fan and sound an alarm if the vehicle reaches a temperature dangerous for the animal.

Police said surveillance video over 6½ hours did not show Harris checking on the dog, giving him water or allowing him to relieve himself, the RJ reported previously.

Harris performed CPR on the K-9 before the dog was pronounced dead at a local animal hospital, the affidavit said.