A 6-year-old police k-9 dog was found dead inside a police officer’s patrol car in California, USA.
The incident happened on August 14, 2019, but it recently went viral again on the internet.
Ozzy, the police dog, worked with the Long Beach Police Department.
They were found in the car on the afternoon of August 14, 2019, and the authorities announced the news officially on August 23, 2019.
Ozzy and the police officer in charge of him were off-duty at the time, but the K-9 had been left in the department-issued vehicle.
According to official reports, mid-afternoon temperatures in Long Beach that day was at around 27°C (81°F) and 28°C (84°F).
The Long Beach police Public Information Officer Arantxa Chavarria released a statement on the matter.
The cause of Ozzy’s death is heat-related, confirmed the authorities.
It is still not clear how the dog was left in the vehicle, but the charity Dogs Trust warns that even a few minutes in a hot car could prove fatal for animals, especially if there are no windows open for fresh and cold air to come inside.
Chavarria said that k-9 vehicles of the police are filled with equipment such as a heat-controller system that uses a mobile phone app to send a signal when the vehicle is getting hot.
However, the authorities believed that the alert may not have been working when the dog was inside the vehicle during the hot day.
Chavarria went on:
We ask that you respect the handler and his family. Our department is mourning Ozzy’s loss as we would with any of our employees. Our K-9s are an indispensable part of our department, and we will continue to view them as partners.
K-9 handlers have checked their vehicle’s heat system controllers before their shift starts after the death of Ozzy.
In October last year, it was said that Ozzy had been with the Long Beach Police Department for the last 5 years.
Sgt. Timothy Long said that the dog had a big heart’ and was known to love people that they met.