by David B. Caruso, Associated Press
PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Prompted by the death of a police dog in a locked, sweltering cruiser, the city is equipping its K-9 cars with a system that automatically rolls down the windows and blares a siren if it gets too hot inside.
Woodrow, a 5-year-old German shepherd, died on May 24 after his handler apparently forgot to take the dog out of a car when the two finished their shift.
A dozen cars in all will get the update, at a cost of less than $400 per car.
“It all but eliminates the possibility of something like this happening again,” said Capt. Alan Kurtz, commander of the department’s canine and mounted police units.
The “Rescue CoolGuard” alert system, manufactured by American Aluminum Accessories of Perry, Fla., uses heat sensors to monitor temperature inside the cruiser, then triggers if the interior hits 88 degrees.
Once tripped, the system will roll down the cruiser’s windows, activate a cooling fan and sound either a horn or siren.
Similar systems have been available since the late 1970s, though sales have accelerated in recent years.
Janet Worsham, president of Criminalistics Inc., of Miami, said her company has sold between 3,000 and 4,000 heat monitors to police departments in the United States and Canada.
Criminalistics’ “Hot Dog” system, which sells for $305 and up, can also be programmed to detect smoke or carbon monoxide and to automatically page an owner if the alarm trips. Worsham said the investment is worth the potential cost of losing a dog.
“Even a green dog today can cost $3,000 - without training,” she said. “When they are trained, you are talking about $10,000 or more.”
Almost all the systems, she said, are sold to police departments, although the Humane Society of the United States advocates wider use of heat detectors among other dog owners.
On a warm day, temperatures in a parked car can reach 120 degrees in a matter of minutes, even with the windows partially open. Hundreds of dogs overheat and die in locked cars each summer, said Kate Pullen, the society’s director of animal sheltering issues.
“We would love to see something like this installed in the car of every dog lover in the country,” she said.
Philadelphia’s new equipis being paid for by Kal Rudman, a philanthropist who has already bought bulletproof vests for Philadelphia’s police dogs and also plans to give the department two new dogs and a horse.
“I’m a dog lover,” Rudman said. “When I heard $400 a car, I thought that was kind of low, given what we are getting in return.”
The new systems are expected to be in place within three weeks, Kurtz said. During a seven-hour patrol tour, police dogs generally spend four to five hours in the car.
As for using the systems to protect children from dying in an overheated car, experts advise against it.
“We wouldn’t encourage that. I think it is illegal in most places to leave your child unattended in a car,” Worsham said.
A memorial service for Woodrow is planned for June 19.