ACWORTH, Ga. — Georgia police said Tuesday that a law enforcement service dog died inside a hot patrol vehicle when the air conditioning unit malfunctioned. Authorities are investigating to determine how the system failed to operate in order to control the interior climate and keep the dog safe.
The Cobb County Police Department said the death of K9 Chase occurred Monday afternoon as officers were participating in active shooter training at Allatoona High School in the city of Acworth. Chase was found unresponsive in the patrol unit by his handler, Officer Neill, during one of the breaks, according to a news release.
“Life-saving measures were started by Officer Neill, other Cobb Officers, and Cobb County Fire personnel (also attending the active shooter training),” according to the police agency. “K9 Chase was then transported to a nearby emergency veterinarian clinic. But the efforts were not enough to save him, and he succumbed to his heat-related injuries.”
“Officers had been at training since 11 a.m. and had been checking on their K9 partners on the hour for 15-minute breaks between each 45-minute training session,” authorities said in the press statement. “At some point after the previous check, the air conditioning system malfunctioned in Officer Neill’s patrol vehicle. Preliminary information indicates that other safety systems did not properly activate, and the temperature quickly rose in the vehicle.”
“This is a horrible incident and our investigators are continuing to gather information regarding the vehicle system failures that led to this tragedy. K9 Chase is currently at Cobb County Animal Shelter and will be transported to the University of Georgia for a necropsy later today,” Cobb Police said.
K9 Chase was a Belgian malinois imported from Hungary. He was born in August 2018 and joined the Cobb County Police Department in April 2020. He was named after Officer Chase Maddox of the Locust Grove Police Department who died in the line-of-duty the year K9 Chase was born, 11 Alive reported.
Chase was cross-trained for patrol work as well as drug detection. He had “seized thousands of dollars worth of illegal narcotics, with numerous arrests and apprehensions,” the department noted.
“K9 Chase was a beloved officer of the Cobb County Police Department and will forever be missed by us all,” the agency mourned.
