Tubby
11-03-2006, 03:07 PM
usa1: K-9 DETECTIVE'S DOG DIES IN CAR LEFT RUNNING usa1:
Carbon monoxide poisoning, smoke inhalation or heat exhaustion may have killed a Broward Sheriff's Office K-9 police dog Wednesday, experts say.
Astro, a 6-year-old Belgian Malinois who worked on the BSO bomb squad, died after being left in his human partner's car.
The car was left on, with the air conditioner running -- which, officials say, is not uncommon. But when the dog's partner returned to his car, the engine was smoking and overheating. Astro died shortly after that.
After a routine training exercise with Astro at Port Everglades, Detective Robert Connors returned the dog to his BSO car, a marked Ford Crown Victoria with lights and a siren.
Connors put Astro in the back seat, turned on the ignition, and made sure the air conditioning was running before going into a nearby building.
Twenty minutes later, around 12:30 p.m., Connors returned to the car to find the engine smoking and overheating, BSO spokeswoman Veda Coleman-Wright said.
Connors pulled Astro out of the car and called on a group of nearby paramedics for help. Astro was taken to Hollywood Animal Hospital, where he died.
BSO, which has 31 trained police dogs, has heat alarms to measure the interior temperature in all of its K-9 vehicles, Coleman-Wright said.
If the temperature reaches a certain level, horns start honking and, in some cases, the sirens sound in most makes and models of the sensor alarms. Also, the back windows automatically roll down so air can flow through the car.
But on Wednesday, the alarm on Connors' car never sounded, and none of the safety features -- such as the opening windows or the honking horn -- activated.
That could be because there were no rising temperatures in the car.
BSO is investigating why the car engine malfunctioned and what led to Astro's death. The sheriff's office is planning a memorial service for the dog.
Carbon monoxide poisoning, smoke inhalation or heat exhaustion may have killed a Broward Sheriff's Office K-9 police dog Wednesday, experts say.
Astro, a 6-year-old Belgian Malinois who worked on the BSO bomb squad, died after being left in his human partner's car.
The car was left on, with the air conditioner running -- which, officials say, is not uncommon. But when the dog's partner returned to his car, the engine was smoking and overheating. Astro died shortly after that.
After a routine training exercise with Astro at Port Everglades, Detective Robert Connors returned the dog to his BSO car, a marked Ford Crown Victoria with lights and a siren.
Connors put Astro in the back seat, turned on the ignition, and made sure the air conditioning was running before going into a nearby building.
Twenty minutes later, around 12:30 p.m., Connors returned to the car to find the engine smoking and overheating, BSO spokeswoman Veda Coleman-Wright said.
Connors pulled Astro out of the car and called on a group of nearby paramedics for help. Astro was taken to Hollywood Animal Hospital, where he died.
BSO, which has 31 trained police dogs, has heat alarms to measure the interior temperature in all of its K-9 vehicles, Coleman-Wright said.
If the temperature reaches a certain level, horns start honking and, in some cases, the sirens sound in most makes and models of the sensor alarms. Also, the back windows automatically roll down so air can flow through the car.
But on Wednesday, the alarm on Connors' car never sounded, and none of the safety features -- such as the opening windows or the honking horn -- activated.
That could be because there were no rising temperatures in the car.
BSO is investigating why the car engine malfunctioned and what led to Astro's death. The sheriff's office is planning a memorial service for the dog.