4-Year-Old Houston Police K9 Aron Dies from Heat Exhaustion After Patrol Car Engine Breaks

Houston Police.Photo:F. Carter Smith/Bloomberg via Getty Images

F. Carter Smith/Bloomberg via Getty Images

A 4-year-old K9 with the Houston Police Department named Arondied from heat exhaustionafter the engine shut off in the car he was in.

The Houston Police Department (HPD) said in a press release that on Monday, Aron’s K9 handler left him in a patrol vehicle with the air condition running — a common practice in the department if the K9 isn’t engaged in police work.

However, when the handler returned to the car, he found Aron in distress because the vehicle’s engine had shut off, police said. The HPD said their K9 vehicles are usually equipped with a system that notifies handlers, sounds the horn, activates cooling fans and rolls down car windows if the vehicle shuts down, but unfortunately none of this happened.

Aron was transported to an emergency veterinarian clinic, but eventually died due to heat exhaustion. He had served with the department for 1.5 years.

“Please keep Aron’s handler and the entire K9 team in your prayers as they mourn the loss of Aron,” the Houston Police Department said in a statement.

Police did not say how long Aron’s handler was gone from the patrol vehicle or why the systems may have failed in the car.

A similar incident happened last week in Acworth, Georgia. The Cobb County Police Department said in apress releasethat K9 handler Officer Neill attended a scheduled active shooter training and had left his K9 in the patrol car with the air conditioning on. He and other officers had checked on their K9s in the car hourly during 15-minute breaks. When he returned during one break, he found his K9 Chase unresponsive in the car.

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The Cobb County Police Department said its K9 vehicles are equipped with a temperature alert system that monitors the vehicle temperature when the canine is inside.

“If the air conditioning system fails and the temperature reaches a point where it’s too hot, the safeguard automatically turns on the lights and the sirens, the windows automatically go down, and a fan turns on. The handler is notified and returns to their vehicle to address the problem,” the police department said.

source: people.com