Houston police K-9 dies from heat exhaustion

HOUSTON (KXAN) -- The Houston Police Department confirmed Tuesday that one of its K-9 dogs, Aron, passed away due to heat exhaustion.

Aron was a four-year-old K-9 dog who had worked with the department for one-and-a-half years. The handler left Aron in a running and air-conditioned patrol vehicle, which HPD said was a "necessary and common practice when the K-9 partner is not actively engaged in police work."

Aron's police handler returned to the patrol vehicle and found the engine had shut off. Aron was taken to an emergency veterinarian clinic, where the dog ultimately died of heat exhaustion.

HPD said K-9 vehicles are designed to notify the handler, sound horns and active cooling fans while rolling down the windows if the vehicle's engine turns off. The department confirmed this didn't happen in this incident, and police officials are investigating what went wrong.

"All HPD vehicles that transport K-9s will immediately be inspected by the vendor to ensure the systems are working properly," the tweeted statement said in part. "Please keep Aron's handler and the entire K-9 team in your prayers as they mourn the loss of Aron."

As a state, Texas ranks No. 1 in heat deaths, according to reporting from veternarians.org. Some of those reasons include leaving animals in air-conditioned vehicles that malfunctioned and turned off, those left in the backyard without ample shade and water, as well as dogs improperly walking on pavement at peak temperatures.

Veternarians.org's reporting compiled news and police reports across a five-year period pertaining to heat-related animal deaths. The study found Texas topped rankings with 40 pet deaths recorded over a five-year timespan, six times the national average.