From the Associate Press
June 12, 2002

PHILADELPHIA - Prompted by the death of a police dog in a locked, sweltering cruiser, the city is equipping its K-9 cars with a system that automatically rolls down the windows and blares a siren if it gets too hot inside.


Woodrow, a 5-year-old German shepherd, died May 24 after his handler apparently forgot to take the dog out of a car when the two completed their shift.

A dozen cars will get the equipment over the next three weeks, at a cost of less than $400 per car.

"It all but eliminates the possibility of something like this happening again," said Capt. Alan Kurtz, commander of the department's canine and mounted police units.

The equipment is being paid for by Kal Rudman, a philanthropist who previously bought bulletproof vests for Philadelphia's police dogs.

"I'm a dog lover," Rudman said. "When I heard $400 a car, I thought that was kind of low, given what we are getting in return."

The Rescue CoolGuard alert system, manufactured by American Aluminum Accessories of Perry, Fla., uses sensors to monitor temperature inside the cruiser. The system is tripped when the interior hits 88 degrees.

Once tripped, the system rolls down the cruiser's windows, activates a cooling fan and sounds a horn or siren.

Similar systems have been available since the late 1970s, though sales have accelerated in recent years.

Janet Worsham, president of Criminalistics Inc. of Miami, said her company has sold 3,000 to 4,000 heat monitors to police departments in the United States and Canada. Criminalistics' Hot Dog system sells for $305 and up.

Almost all of the systems, she said, are sold to police departments.

"We would love to see something like this installed in the car of every dog lover in the country," said Kate Pullen of the Humane Society of the United States.