Equipment Helps Philadelphia Police Dogs Beat The Heat
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Dogs on the Philadelphia police force have some added protection against heat stroke this summer.
There are more than 20 Philadelphia police dogs in the K-9 unit. They often stay in their police vehicle while their human partners are on patrol.
The summer heat could be deadly, but a temperature monitoring system called "Cool Guard" keeps them comfortable and safe.
"It has the sensor that will notify the handler if the air conditioner or the engine should fail," explains Philadelphia Police Captain Mark Everitt -- the commanding officer of the K-9 unit.
He says the windows would also go down and a high power fan comes on:
"It also has an automatic door if the handler is outside and gets into a problem he could hit a switch and the door automatically opens and his K-9 partner can assist in the situation."
The nonprofit Philadelphia Police Foundation helped raise money for the $7,500 system to be installed in two new police vehicles.
"We would love to have people who love their dogs to think about how they could love the Philadelphia police K-9 dogs and send us some donations that would go specifically to this cause," says the foundation's board president Maureen Rush.