United States: A Metropolitan Police Department dog was found dead inside a police vehicle on Monday afternoon, outside the Northeast D.C. headquarters for the bomb squad.
A police spokesperson confirms the death of the dog, a 7-year-old Belgian Malinois named Rocket, is now under investigation as well as that preliminary reports say the dog was left alone inside a police vehicle.
The Law enforcement sources shared the information that the dog was left in his handler’s marked SUV with the air conditioning running, but at some point, the air conditioner failed as well as the dog died inside the car.
Moreover, most recognized guidelines for first responders advise against leaving police dogs unattended in vehicles. However, a D.C. police spokesperson said no written policy addresses how dogs should be kept when not on active duty.
The sources shared the information that the officers leave police K-9s alone in cars with the air conditioning running. The majority of the vehicles are equipped with devices, the most common known as a “hot pup”, which alert a dog’s handler if the temperature inside rises to unsafe levels.
Sometimes, these devices can even lower a vehicle’s windows automatically.
Furthermore, the authorities mentioned in the statement, “All K9 vehicles at MPD are equipped with a temperature monitoring and alarm system that should activate when the interior environment of the vehicle exceeds a safe temperature. A full vehicle inspection is being conducted to determine if the system malfunctioned.”
