Update after two police dogs found dead
A “technical issue” with an airconditiong unit is believed to be responsible for the death of two NSW Police police dogs found dead inside their specialist police vehicle.
The bodies of police dog Xtra and development dog Soldier were found in a NSW Police vehicle about 12.30pm on Thursday after they attended a command development day at a Lucas Heights facility with their handler.
Police now believe the deaths were caused by a “technical issue”.
Speaking to ABC Radio Sydney on Friday morning, NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb said the dogs were “two valuable members of our organisation”.
“We’re all devastated,” she said, adding a “priority” investigation was under way to determine the cause of death.
It’s understood before their deaths, the two dogs were “exercised” and went through a routine check at 12.30pm before their bodies were discovered. The dogs were taken to the specialist veterinary clinic but could not be revived.
While the cause of death is yet to be confirmed, Ms Webb said there was likely a fault with the specialty built airconditioner pods inside the car that had been “in operation for a few months”.
“What we do know is that we suspect a technical issue and no human error,” she said.
Ms Webb said the investigation would “see if that’s the issue and why in fact that happened because that’s not meant to happen at all”.
She said it was a “very sad day” for the dog unit.
“The thoughts of the whole police family are with them,” she said. “We owe it to PD Xtra and DD Soldier to conduct a thorough investigation.”
Ms Webb said she had spoken to the officer on Friday morning, and he was devastated.
“He had the very difficult task of going home yesterday afternoon to inform his wife and his two children about the passing of the two dogs because for dog handlers the dogs reside with the family,” she said.
“They are part of that family with the officer 24/7 unless they’re on extended leave.
“So a very unhappy, tragic set of circumstances, and we’ve put all the support we can around that officer and other officers from the dog squad.”
PD Xtra, a german shepherd, was accredited as a general-purpose dog in July 2018 and attached to the Newcastle and Central Coast dog unit.
“The amount of extra jobs that PD Xtra has responded to is phenomenal, especially up in the Newcastle northern area.
“They’re known as the crook catchers up there.”
DD Soldier, a german shepherd, began service with the dog unit in February 2024 for training and development.
Assistant Commissioner Stephen Hegarty said the loss of the dogs would be felt deeply by the police.
“Our focus is on the welfare of all staff involved with ongoing support services made available to them,” he said.
The assistant commissioner said once an examination of the vehicle had been completed they would implement strategies to make sure the airconditioning units did not cut out again.
He said it was a priority to check on the dogs when they were left in the pods for long periods of time.
An alarm had been raised but by the time officers got to the vehicle the dogs were unresponsive.
“Unfortunately there was an alarm that goes off, it did go off at a time, but when police went down there it was too late,” he said.
“As the commissioner mentioned, just how tragic this is for the men and women,” he said.
“They work with the dogs, they live with the dogs and they train with the dogs.
“Excuse the cliche, but it’s their partner, they work with them every day.”
NSW Police will hold a memorial service for the dogs.