(KERO) — The Kern County Sheriff's Office said a veterinary medicine center determined that K-9 Officer Hannes died on Aug. 18th from heat stroke.
Hannes was taken to UC Davis Veterinary Medicine Center in Tulare on Aug. 19th to determined a cause of death.
The center also found Hannes wasn't suffering from any underlying conditions that would have made him more likely to get heat stroke, said KCSO.
A review found Hannes was involved searching for suspects on Aug. 18th that fled from deputies for a total of eight minutes and Hannes wasn't wearing a ballistic vest due to the heat, said KCSO.
KCSO said all K-9 Sheriff’s Office vehicles are specifically built and specially equipped with air conditioning units to provide cooler air in the kennel area. The vehicles are also kept running to keep the vehicle cool for the canines and a heat sensor goes off that causes an alarm to go off on the handler's belt and the windows to roll down, said KCSO.
KCSO said a deputy and K-9 Hannes were searching for two people involved in a shooting on Aug. 18th in the Lamont area.
One man was taken into custody and KCSO said Hannes was not used in apprehending that man.
But KCSO says later Hannes began showing signs of distress, and was taken to a local animal hospital where he died.
Hannes was a Belgian Malinois who had been working alongside his handler since last March.
KCSO says no shooting victim was found during that initial investigation.
