BELLEVUE, WI (WTAQ) – The Brown County Sheriff’s Department says one of their police dogs died in a hot car when the air conditioning malfunctioned on Wednesday.
Authorities say the K9, Wix, and his partner, Deputy Austin Lemberger, were on special assignment in Sheboygan County at the PGA Championship. Wix and Lemberger were contacted to help with security at the event in Haven because they specialize in detecting explosives.
Authorities say Wix was placed in the squad car with the engine running and the air conditioning on. Officials say Lemberger checked the dog throughout the morning.
But around 12:30 p.m., Lemberger found Wix unresponsive in the car. He discovered the air conditioning had stopped working.
“We do have an alarm system that is supposed to activate when the temperature rises too high,” said Brown County Sheriff’s Capt. Dan Sandberg. “For some reason that system didn’t activate and that’s what we’re investigating right now.”
The 3-year-old Belgian Malinois had been with the Brown County Sheriff’s Department since April 2014. Wix, who was also trained in tracking, worked with Lemberger the entire time.
“It’s like losing a member of your family, it’s been very hard on him,” Sandberg said of Lemberger.
Bay East Animal Hospital is helping to investigate Wix’s death. Dr. Margaret Eastman said Thursday that these highly-trained dogs are not like your typical pet.
“Those dogs are so well trained, that every time they come out of that car they are on high alert and that’s an important thing to remember,” Dr. Eastman said. “Utilizing the vehicle as a place to rest is a necessity for them. They cannot do the dangerous things we ask them to do, the meticulous work, if they don’t have a rest cycle, and they will not get rest if they’re just hanging out in the parking lot.”
Sandberg says the department has six slots for K-9 units, now this unfortunate incident leaves them with 5. For each of them, leaving the patrol dogs inside idle squad cars is not unusual.
“If they’re investigating a sexual assault up at the hospital, the dog could be in the car for extended hours,” said Sandberg. “But the K-9 officers are very conscientious about going down there, getting them out for bathroom breaks and checking on the dogs.”
No timetable was provided for how long this investigation will take.
