July 19, 2003

Equipment failure, heat kill police dog


By The Associated Press
Associated Press

Independence — Police dog Hondo died of heat exposure after the air conditioning in his patrol car failed, authorities said.
He had been alone in the car for about an hour when he was found unconscious Wednesday afternoon. Outside temperatures reached 97 degrees.

Handler Sgt. John Bullard was driving the dog to an animal hospital when his patrol car collided with another vehicle. Police are investigating the failure of the vehicle's "hot dog" system, designed to roll down windows, turn on a fan and blare a siren to alert the dog handler when temperatures in the vehicle approach an unsafe level.

Here is the link to the AP story:

http://www.examiner.net/stories/071703/new_071703009.shtml

Terrible news. The officer must be distraught.

A K-9 officer with the Orlando PD told me their cars are equipped with sensors to notify the officer if the temperature of the car reaches a certain level and, the windows are automatically lowered some to let in air.

I too leave my dogs in the car with the A/C running very cold. I lock up the car and take a spare key with me. But I also assume that my A/C will fail 10 seconds after I walk away from the car. In other words, I keep it to 15 minutes or less.

Originally posted by Russell Gibson:
Terrible news. The officer must be distraught.

A K-9 officer with the Orlando PD told me their cars are equipped with sensors to notify the officer if the temperature of the car reaches a certain level and, the windows are automatically lowered some to let in air.

I too leave my dogs in the car with the A/C running very cold. I lock up the car and take a spare key with me. But I also assume that my A/C will fail 10 seconds after I walk away from the car. In other words, I keep it to 15 minutes or less. I, too, won't leave my puppy in the car this time of year without the A/C on high, even at that, no more than a few minutes, tops. It is sad to think that this officer lost a dog because of relying on failed sensors...is it common to leave a dog such as this in the car for an hour without checking on his well-being? Like, what was he doing that was more important than his fallen partner??

Can anyone get those devices to warn of increased heat in autos? How much and where?

Thanks
steve

THANKS FOR THE INFORMATION ABOUT THE HEAT/DOG SYSTEMS FOR THE AUTOS!!

STEVE

MO Officer, Whose Dog Died in Overheated Car, gets New K-9

Dateline: Independence, MO - 7/24/2003
KMBC

The Independence Police Department welcomed its newest member to the force Wednesday -- a 19-month-old German shepherd.

The dog, named Daro, is Sgt. John Bullard Jr.'s new partner after Bullard's K-9, Hondo, died in an overheated patrol car last week.

KMBC's Maria Antonia reported that the cruiser's cooling system failed and a backup system malfunctioned, which should have rolled the windows down and started a fan when a certain temperature was reached inside the patrol car.

Donations from Capt. Don Huntsinger's family were used to add Daro to the police force. Huntsinger died a year ago from heart problems.

"One of the best ways to honor my dad was to keep a connection with the department," said Susan Huntsinger.

After about 16 weeks of training, Daro should be ready.

Police said that they want everyone to know that Daro is an addition, not a replacement.

"He's a new partner because he can't replace the old one. I know he'll do just as well as the others," Bullard said.

Antonia said that the investigation into why the cooling system on Bullard's car malfunctioned proved inconclusive.

Interesting. Does anybody know how many police K-9's there are in the U.S.?