A K9 police dog has died in Cobb County, Georgia, after suffering from heat stroke during a training exercise on Monday, officials report.
Chase, a 4-year-old Belgian Malinois, was found unresponsive in the patrol vehicle by officers following a malfunction in the vehicle’s air conditioning system.
“K9 Chase passed away in the line of duty,” the Cobb County Police Department said in a statement on Tuesday. “Preliminary information indicates that other safety systems did not properly activate, and the temperature quickly rose in the vehicle.”
The officers, including Chase’s handler, Officer Neill, had been attending a scheduled active shooter training session at Allatoona High School, in Acworth, when the incident took place. The training had been ongoing since 11 a.m, and Officer Neill had been checking in on Chase every hour. However, at some point between these check-ins, the air conditioning unit in Officer Neill’s vehicle malfunctioned, the statement said.
“Life-saving measures were started by Officer Neill, other Cobb Officers, and Cobb County Fire personnel (also attending the active shooter training),” the police department said. “K9 Chase was then transported to a nearby emergency veterinarian clinic. But the efforts were not enough to save him, and he succumbed to his heat-related injuries.”
Chase began working with the Cobb County Police Department in April 2020 alongside his handler, Officer Neill. He was trained in narcotics detection, criminal apprehension, tracking, building searches and evidence recovery and seized thousands of dollar worth of illegal narcotics, with numerous and arrests and apprehensions, during his service period.
“This is a horrible incident, and our investigators continue to gather information regarding the vehicle system failures that led to this tragedy,” the department said.
Heatstroke is a serious heat-related illness that occurs when the body gets too hot and can no longer cool down effectively. Unlike humans, dogs only have sweat glands on their paws, according to the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine, so they have to rely on panting to cool down.
If left in a car, where temperatures can rise very quickly, dogs can easily overheat, potentially causing organ damage, blood clotting and even death.
To keep your dogs safe during the summer, Cornell University has a few suggestions:
