10 January 2023

On 9 July 2022, the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service (RCIPS) notified our office of the death of Police Dog Baron.

We immediately opened an own-motion investigation (OMI) under section 3(2)(c) of the Police (Complaints by the Public) Act and requested the assistance of the Department of Agriculture Animal Welfare and Control Unit (DOA) to carry out an independent investigation into the circumstances with our oversight.

As part of our review, the OMB conducted an early inspection of the kennels along with the DOA and identified several areas needing immediate attention. These included:

• The need for a permanent roof outside the kennels, which are located outside in the back of the police station property
• The creation of a welfare and observation log for each RCIPS dog handler
• The need to clean debris from unused kennels for use as a quarantine area in the eventanother animal became unwell
• the removal of chemical and cleaning supplies from the kennel area
• The need to provide an enrichment area for the police dogs to exercise
• The need for air conditioning maintenance at the kennels to be conducted on a regular basis
• The need to clear debris outside the kennels to prevent rodents from entering the area andpotentially biting the dogs

Based on these findings, early recommendations were made to the RCIPS, and periodic inspections of the kennels were conducted. All the above recommendations were promptly actioned by RCIPS.

At the conclusion of the joint investigation into the death of K9 Baron, a file was submitted to the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) on 13 September 2022.

We will not be substantively commenting on our own findings until the completion of any action taken by the ODPP and/or the Cayman Islands court system with respect to this matter as a result of the legal ruling recommendation on 6 January 2023.