ROCKTON, Ill. – Heartbreaking new bodycam footage obtained through a public records request shows a Wisconsin man desperately begging Rockton police officers to help his 8-month-old French bulldog as the puppy suffered in extreme heat, only to be met with what critics call stunning indifference.
On a sweltering 97-degree day in late July, Collazo Gonzalez was pulled over for speeding. Officers discovered his license was suspended and began the process of towing his vehicle. Left inside the non-running car was Kody, the young French bulldog already panting heavily.
According to the footage and report reviewed by investigative journalist Sarah Field, officers removed Gonzalez from the car but left the puppy inside for more than 20 minutes. When the dog was finally moved into the back of a police vehicle with his owner, the air conditioning was not running.
“I don’t want him to die. Help me please… get him out, walk him, something,” Gonzalez can be heard pleading in the video as Kody showed clear signs of distress. One officer stood and listened without immediate action while the owner repeatedly begged for water and cooler air.
Fields, who obtained the materials through an open records request, said Rockton police redacted large portions of both the written report and the bodycam audio — including sections where Gonzalez’s aunt allegedly warned an officer by phone that “the dog is gonna die if they don’t do anything.”
“You’ll only get what we want to send you,” Fields described the department’s response. She called the unredacted portions she reviewed “the most upsetting bodycam I’ve watched in a long time.”Kody later died in Gonzalez’s arms. The owner has retained an attorney and is pushing for accountability, saying his emotional support dog never should have been left to suffer in the heat under police supervision.
Rockton police have previously released their own body-cam footage and timeline, stating that the dog was eventually given water and ice at a gas station and appeared to improve before the pair left. No independent necropsy results confirming the exact cause of death have been made public.
Animal advocates and online viewers reacting to the newly highlighted footage are demanding answers: Why was a vulnerable French bulldog, a breed known to struggle in heat, left in dangerous conditions for so long, and why were key portions of the official record blacked out?
Gonzalez continues to share his story, determined that Kody’s death will not be ignored.
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