JACKSON – A Mississippi sheriff’s department mourning the loss of one of their top K-9 officers has discovered a new way to protect their furry companions from dying in a hot car.
WAPT-TV in Jackson reports that Dex, a K-9 officer with the Hinds County Sheriff’s Department, died after he was left in his handler’s patrol vehicle for about an hour while the sheriff’s deputy was on a lunch break.
Dex, a 6-year-old Belgium Malinois, was trained in bomb detection and was the top drug-detecting officer, Maj. Pete Luke told the Clarion-Ledger and other media.
The 2016 Chevrolet Tahoe stopped running while the deputy was inside a restaurant, and Dex succumbed to the heat in less than an hour, the Clarion-Ledger reported.
Since Dex’s death, which happened about a few weeks ago, the sheriff’s department has installed alarms that sound when the temperature elevates, according to WAPT, and the windows automatically lower.
“This was devastating for the handler and not something we ever want to experience ever again,” Luke told WAPT.
Source: https://www.sunherald.com/news/local/crime/article215186655.html