K-9s Dying in Hot Cars: PETA Calls on National Police Orgs to Protect Dogs from Deadly Summer Heat

For Immediate Release:
July 13, 2026

Contact:
Sara Groves 202-483-7382

With reports surging nationwide of K-9s dying from heat-related causes, many of whom, as the examples below show, were left unattended in patrol cars—which is among the top causes of death for dogs used by police departments—PETA sent letters today to three of the largest law-enforcement organizations in the country urging them to act immediately to help stop more dogs from dying. In letters sent to the National Association of Police Organizations, the International Association of Chiefs of Police, and the National Sheriffs’ Association, PETA is calling on law enforcement agencies to phase out the use of K-9s in favor of state-of-the-art technology—and, in the meantime, to implement policies that protect K-9s during extreme weather.

Recent K-9 deaths that prompted PETA’s letter include the following:

• Schenectady County, New York: Sheriff’s Office K-9 Leonidas, a German shepherd, reportedly died in a hot patrol vehicle after the vehicle’s heat-alert alarm system failed to activate.

• Ennis, Texas: Fairfield Police Department K-9 Farock died after his handler, returning home from an overnight shift, reportedly went inside to take a nap and left Farock inside the vehicle for hours on end on a scorching hot Texas day.

• Maricopa County, Arizona: The reportedly heat-related death of a Sheriff’s Office K-9 at a jail facility is currently under investigation.

• Salem, New Jersey: Salem County Sheriff’s Office K-9s Rip and Boomer died after their handler reportedly left them in a patrol vehicle for approximately seven hours as temperatures outside reached 81 degrees and the vehicle’s interior could have reached 125 degrees within just one hour. Criminal charges were filed against the handler.

• Junction City, Kansas: Police Department K-9 Vethos, a 4-year-old Belgian Malinois, was found unresponsive inside a patrol vehicle; initial findings apparently indicated “heat exposure” as the cause of death.

“A parked car is a death trap for any dog, and that includes the K-9s who are baking to death in patrol cars across the country,” says PETA Senior Vice President Daphna Nachminovitch. “PETA is urging law-enforcement agencies to take immediate steps to protect their K-9 partners from this preventable suffering and to phase out the use of dogs altogether and adopt innovative technology that helps police, protects the community, and keeps dogs safe.”

K-9s dying in hot patrol cars are part of an ongoing epidemic affecting K-9s: Many also sustain fatal injuries in the field and some even suffer abuse from their own handlers. That’s why PETA is calling on law enforcement agencies nationwide to end these preventable tragedies by retiring K-9 programs in favor of advanced technology such as tactical robots, drones, or portable mass spectrometers.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow PETA on X, Facebook, or Instagram.