ARNOLD, Mo. — A K-9 with the Arnold Police Department died Wednesday after an air conditioning warning system failed to activate in his handler's patrol car.
Vader, a 4-year-old Belgian Malinois in the K-9 unit, died from heat exhaustion after his handler left him in a running patrol car Wednesday with the air conditioning on, according to the police department. When Vader's handler returned to the car, he discovered the air conditioning had malfunctioned.
Vader was taken to a veterinarian clinic where he was initially showing improvement, police said. After being moved to a 24-hour clinic for treatment, police said they learned there was no further treatment for Vader.
He died Wednesday night.
According to a bio on the department's website, Vader was "very energetic" and loved coming to work, playing fetch and being around people.
Arnold police consider K-9s left in running patrol cars as "necessary and common practice when the K-9 partner is not actively engaged in police work," the department said in a post on Facebook.
The department's K-9 cars are equipped with an air conditioning alarm system that is supposed to notifiy the handler by phone, activate the emergency lights and siren, sound the car horn, activate cooling fans and roll down the car windows if the car temperature increases to a certain level, the department said. However, the system failed to activate for Vader.
The department is investigating the incident to determine what went wrong.
It’s not known what exactly Vader and his partner were doing on Wednesday when the accident occurred
" The police treat these dogs like part of their family, like these dogs are not replaceable. It’s just a sad, sad story,” said Dr. Stuart Robson, the founding partner and medical director at Fox Creek Veterinary Clinic in Kirkwood.
He and his team have treated several police dogs.
"The vast majority of people, they should never leave their dog unattended in a car. The police are different. They have a duty to protect us and they would do anything to protect those dogs," Robson added.
Statistics show a hot car can be fatal to a dog in a matter of minutes.
"I also think people have to realize is dogs can't sweat, so they can be very prone to heat stress in this kind of heat and they don't have sweat glands. This is just a tragedy. I'm sure the police are just sickened by it, " Robson said.
The Humane Society of Missouri said that though it was unable to comment on Vader's case specifically, "It does highlight just how serious extreme temperatures can be to animals.
"A hot car can be fatal to a dog in a matter of minutes. The Humane Society of Missouri’s Animal Cruelty Task Force responds to dozens of calls about animals in heat-related distress each summer and is dedicated to educating the public about the effects of extreme temperatures on our four-legged friends. We mourn the loss of K-9 Officer Vader and are keeping all who loved him in our thoughts.”
Another K-9 in Savannah, Missouri, died in a hot car earlier this summer. The city’s chief of police said at the time that he could not discuss the circumstances surrounding the dog’s death as an investigation by state police was underway.