A memorial wreath for Wix placed outside the Brown Co. Sheriff’s office (Photo: WHBY)
The Brown County Sheriff’s Department says one of its K-9 unit died in a hot squad car after two systems failed.
Sheriff’s Captain Dan Sandberg said the dog, a three-year-old Malinois named Wix, was resting in the car after helping with security at the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits on Wednesday morning. The vehicle was running with the air conditioning on, but a blower motor that circulates the cold air had failed. Sandberg says the dog’s handler, Deputy Austin Lemberger, went to check on Wix at about 12:30 and found him unresponsive.
Sandberg said it’s not uncommon for K-9 units to sit in their vehicles for long periods of time, and noted that Lemberger had been checking on the animal throughout the morning.
The car was equipped with an alarm that’s designed to send out an alert if the temperature in the vehicle begins to climb. However, that system failed as well. Sandberg said they are still trying to determine why.
Wix joined the department in April of last year and was trained to sniff for explosives. The agency has five other K-9 units.
Mike Kemmeter, WHBY