Rocket, an explosives detection dog for the Metropolitan Police Department, was found dead in his squad car on Monday.
Heat exhaustion is a silent but prevalent killer of K9s. His death marks another in a long line of police dogs who have died in squad cars. Rocket’s handler remains unnamed and on duty.
Rocket’s Passing
Authorities released a statement announcing the passing of the 7-year-old Belgian Malinois assigned to the Special Operations Division of the D.C.-based police department. Police spokesperson Dustin Sternbeck says that authorities are still waiting for the results of the necropsy to determine cause of death. However, Rocket seemingly suffered heat exhaustion.
The statement notes that his handler found Rocket after leaving the vehicle “parked, secured and idling” on a D.C. street. It further explains that all K9 units have technology that should prevent this from happening. According to the statement, K9 vehicles “are equipped with a temperature monitoring and alarm system that should activate when the interior environment of the vehicle exceeds a safe temperature.”
Evidently, these features in Rocket’s squad car either suddenly malfunctioned or weren’t operating properly to begin with. The statement also notes that officers are conducting “a full inspection of the vehicle.”
Heat Exhaustion and K9s
A 2015 story by the Washington Post found that 40 percent of dogs on the Officer Down Memorial Page died of heat exhaustion. DogTime attempted to both corroborate these statistics and compare those to recent statistics from the site. Unfortunately, they no longer show a comprehensive list of K9 deaths. The site only displays five recently deceased K9s — one of whom, a California K9 named Hannes, died of heat stroke.
Interestingly, the site lists three “qualifying” manners of death for a K9 to be featured as a fallen hero: felonious causes, accidental causes, and heat exhaustion. The site also specifies that the heat exhaustion must take place during tracking or training or in a department-owned vehicle. If K9 heat exhaustion occurs in a personal vehicle, it does not qualify.
The inclusion of heat exhaustion as an unavoidable manner of death is rather peculiar. A majority of states have laws in place that criminalize civilians leaving their dogs in a car. Why does the same not apply to police officers?
