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A K-9 police dog has died from heat exhaustion inside a Missouri police car after an air conditioning malfunction.
Vader, a four-year-old dog working for the Arnold Police Department, was left inside a patrol car with the AC running on Wednesday. The AC system broke as Vader was trapped inside, the department said in a statement. Arnold, a suburb of St Louis, hit 93 degrees Fahrenheit (33C) on Wednesday with a heat index of 110F (43C), according to the National Weather Service.
Arnold police cars are equipped with heat sensors that alert officers if their car reaches a certain temperature, the department said. However the sensor failed, and the handler never received a phone notification.
Vader’s handler eventually found him and took him to a vet clinic. While he initially showed signs of improvement, the department said, the veterinarian eventually determined there were no more treatments available and the dog died. It is unclear how long Vader was inside the car before his handler returned.
“The Arnold Police Department is investigating this tragedy to determine what went wrong,” the department said. “Please keep Vader’s handler, his family, and the members of the APD in your thoughts and prayers as we mourn the loss of our K-9 partner.”
It is common practice for handlers to leave K-9 dogs in their cars with the AC running, the department added.
Community members had mixed reactions to the news on social media, with some critical of the police department.
“The heat index was over 100 degrees that day,” one user wrote. “That poor poor dog. My heart breaks for him.”
“I’m sorry for this poor boy,” another wrote. “Would it not be just like a child or another animal in a vehicle of a non police officer? That the pup should have NOT been left in the car.”
Others defended the handler and pointed out the technology failure. “To the people responding negatively, his handler did nothing wrong,” one user commented. “It was the system that failed. Realize that no one wanted anything like this to happen to K-9 Vader.”
Vader isn’t the first K-9 dog to die of heat exhaustion.
Last year, at least ten police dogs died as a driver transported them from Chicago’s O’Hare Airport to Michigan City, Indiana. The driver was caught in a two-hour traffic delay when the AC unit inside the cargo area failed, causing the German shepherds to die of heat-related illness on a 91F (32C) day.
“I don’t think any veterinarian would’ve signed off on their health certificate given the temperature and the exposure that those pets would’ve been under,” Jenny Webber, the executive director of the Hobart, Indiana Humane Society, said at the time.
