On July 31, 2024, the Arnold Police Department lost a member of its K-9 family in a tragic accident. Arnold Police Department K-9 Vader, four years of age, passed away from heat exhaustion.
The K-9 handler left Vader in a running, air-conditioned patrol vehicle, which is necessary and common practice when the K-9 partner is not actively engaged in police work. When Vader’s police handler returned to the vehicle, it was discovered that the air conditioning system malfunctioned.
“Vader was immediately transported to a local veterinarian clinic where he showed signs of improvement,” the department says. “Vader was then transported to a 24-hour clinic for further treatment. Unfortunately, we learned last night that there were no further treatments available for Vader and he succumbed to his injuries.”
All Arnold Police Department K-9 vehicles are equipped with a system that notifies the handler by phone, activates the emergency lights and siren, sounds the vehicle horn, activates cooling fans, and rolls down the vehicle windows, if the vehicle temperature increases to a certain level. In this instance, the heat alarm system failed to activate.
The Arnold Police Department is investigating this tragedy to determine what went wrong.
