It’s crucial now more than ever to keep an eye out for dogs left in hot automobiles because summer is still going strong and temperatures are rising to record levels in many places.
Dogs who are left in hot cars will not survive for long due to their severe susceptibility to heat stroke. Accidents can still occur even if you believe you have done all the necessary safety measures to avert catastrophe.
That was the unfortunate situation that occurred recently when a police department K9 was left in a hot car without air conditioning and without emergency procedures in place, leading to his death.
Vader, a 4-year-old K9 with the Arnold Police agency in Missouri, passed away on July 31 from heat exhaustion, according to a press release from the agency.
Vader was left in a running patrol car with the air conditioner running, according to the department, which referred to this as a “necessary and common practice” for K9s who are not actively participating in police operations.
Officers found that the air conditioning system had broken down when they got back inside the car.
The police added that although all of their K9 patrol cars have a failsafe mechanism that sounds the horn, pulls down the windows, warns the handler, and triggers the alarms and sirens if the vehicle reaches a particular temperature, this emergency backup “failed to activate.”
After being taken to the veterinary facility in a hurry, Vader appeared to be improving, but he eventually passed away.
The Arnold Police Department posted, “Unfortunately, we learned last night that there were no further treatments available for Vader and he succumbed to his injuries.”
“Investigating this tragedy to determine what went wrong,” the department wrote in a letter. They also requested that people remember Vader’s handler and his family in their prayers and expressed their sorrow over his passing.
Understandably, the public has been devastated by the news and has experienced strong emotions; many have wondered if more might have been done to avert this disaster.
On Facebook, someone said, “Take the dog with you, just like a child. Common practice needs to change.”
For that reason alone, another person remarked, “These dogs should never be left in a car for an extended period of time, running or not.” “I know it was an accident, but nobody else should have to go through this.”
Others recommended enhancing or testing the emergency heat alarm system of the cars more frequently because it did not sound.
Vader is sadly not the only police dog to pass away after being left in a hot car; sadly, this happens frequently due to either officer negligence or—in this case—a malfunctioning air conditioner and backup system.
Horus, a second Missouri police dog, also passed away after being left in a hot car overnight, a few days before Vader did.
It is terrible that police dogs could suffer and even perish from a hot car since they put their lives in danger for their communities. Although emergency warnings and air conditioning are features of patrol cars, it is obvious that these devices are not infallible.
We hope that Vader’s untimely passing and the deaths of all the other K9 victims will spur more measures to safeguard their lives. 
Woman Goes on Labor Mid-flight, Pilot Reroutes but Not to the Airport — Story of the Day
A pregnant woman went into labor while aboard a commercial airplane which forced the pilot to reroute the plane, but not to the airport.
Rose hated flying. She was a young woman who never had the opportunity to be on a plane for most of her life. Indeed she only started riding one when she started making visits from her town in Omaha to the city of Texas where her husband, Bill, worked as a miner.
The job brought in decent pay which was why he did it, but it separated them for a long long time. Bill was always gone all year long and he only got a break between Christmas and the New Year.
Rose went into labor on a plane during a flight back from visiting her husband | Source: Shutterstock
When she got tired of having to live without seeing her husband for long periods, she got Bill to agree to her making a monthly trip to see him.
Bill was initially not enthused about the idea, but in the end, the weekends he spent with her at the small apartment he stayed in were some of the best in their marriage.
It was one of those long romantic nights that brought about the pregnancy Rose now carried in her belly. Bill was aware of the child and could not wait to meet his youngster.
He had even promised to retire from mining and start a farm where they could grow crops to sell. Everyone knew farmers made a lot of profit in Omaha if they had the know-how, and Bill descended from a long line of farmers.
One day, Rose, heavy with child, was flying to Texas to see Bill even though he had asked her to remain in their Omaha home. Flying to him for their weekend getaways had become a habit and she could not stand not seeing him that weekend.
Rose got pregnant after several visits to Bill | Source: Pexels
“You are nine months pregnant Rose,” he told her the last time they spoke.
“Oh, thank you for pointing that out, I had no idea my stomach started swelling nine months ago,” Rose replied drily.
“You shouldn’t be moving around so much now that you’re this close to giving birth but you want to make a whole journey? That’s absurd my dear.”
“I need to see you, be with you, I’ve missed you,” Rose cooed. She had let him convince her to remain at home for two months before she put her foot down.
“I know baby,” he said. “Hey, it’s September and I get to come home in December and never leave again, just be patient hon.”
Rose let him believe he had gotten through to her again but as soon as it was Friday, she got on a flight headed to Texas. She surprised him, and even though he claimed to be angered by it, they enjoyed their time together.
As soon as it was Friday, Rose got on a flight headed to Texas | Source: Pexels
By Sunday evening, when Rose got on a plane bound for Omaha, she was glowing — she really did enjoy her husband’s refreshing company.
It wasn’t until the plane hit turbulence as it gained altitude that she was reminded how much she did not enjoy flying — it was nothing personal, she just preferred to have feet on solid ground where her fall to the ground, if it ever happened, would be a short distance.
Another rattle shook the plane and sent her overactive imagination into overdrive. She thought of everything from a hijacking to a plane crash and it got her stressed out. And it was as she mentally listed things that could go wrong that her water broke.
Caught up in her head, Rose wasn’t even aware that her water already broke. When she noticed the wetness, she turned red in the face, embarrassed thinking she could not control her bladder. It never occurred to her that her water had broken because it was not supposed to for another three weeks. Then the contractions began.
Rose got on a plane bound for Omaha by Sunday | Source: Pexels
Rose started to scream, catching the attention of the flight attendant who rushed over to find out what was wrong. “I’m having a baby!!” Rose yelled.
The attendant quickly let the pilot know and he immediately connected with the nearest airport to request permission to land. Meanwhile, the flight attendant tried to calm Rose down by talking to her in between each contraction.
“Why are you traveling alone pregnant?” the kind-looking woman asked Rose.
“I was with my husband and I’m returning home,” Rose answered.
“He let you travel like this, how irresponsible!” the flight attendant exclaimed. “Okay, do you have family we can call? Besides your husband?”
“No, I’m an orphan,” Rose said. The flight attendant noticed that she had a temperature and was getting spent from enduring the contractions so she informed the pilot that the labor could get dangerous for Rose without a professional doctor to help.
The attendant informed the pilot and he immediately connected with the nearest airport to request permission to land | Source: Pexels
A dispatcher informed the pilot, a man named Drew, that the nearest airport was not ready to receive their plane due to weather conditions.
Time was running out and in her feverish state, all Rose could manage was call out her husband’s name. That’s when Drew decided to turn the plane around to return to Texas.
“Keep her stable for thirty more minutes,” he told the attendant. Unfortunately, the weather in Texas was also terrible so their plane was denied access to land at the airport.
Luckily, Drew knew the area so he was aware of an abandoned airfield not far from the airport. The only problem was the runway was too short to land their large plane. Still, it was the closest town to where Rose could get medical help.
“Let’s land at the abandoned airstrip,” Drew told his co-pilot, a rookie who went by the name Stan.
“Sir with all due respect, landing there is against the rules,” Stan said.
“Sometimes to save a human being, you need to act according to your conscience, not the rules!” Drew replied.
Rose caught the attention of the flight attendant telling her she was having a baby.| Source: Pexels
He got the attendant to call Rose’s husband as they circled the abandoned airstrip getting ready to land. Drew knew every move had to be planned down to the last degree.
They circled once, twice, each time steadily getting closer to the ground. Meanwhile Rose was starting to lose consciousness because of her contractions.
The plane got closer to the ground and with a leap of faith, because there was no control tower to navigate their path, Drew took the plane down.
His co-pilot who was still a rookie was just one step away from panicking but he followed Drew’s lead and several tense minutes later, the aircraft touched the ground.
As they opened the hatch to get Rose out, an ambulance carrying EMTs and Rose’s husband sped through the clearing. It was followed by media vans and some civilians who feared there would be a crash and had come to help.
When the plane finally landed in the airfield, Bill and the ambulance crew were waiting | Source: Pexels
Bill carried his wife, pregnant as she was to the ambulance and they raced to the hospital. All the shocked man could do was pray that his wife, who did not look very good, would be alright.
At the hospital, the doctors got her a private room and a quick check of her vitals revealed that she was already too weak to push her baby out. It would have to be done via a C–section.
Bill was not allowed to remain in the room but after long moments of waiting, he was ushered in to see his new child and his recuperating wife. He could not believe how close he had gotten to losing them.
He quit his job that day so that when they returned to Omaha, it was to stay. Bill found out the name of the thoughtful pilot who took the risks to get his wife help and named their child after him. Rose was all in favour.
Still, she did not get on another airplane for years.
Rose was too weak to push in the hospital, so they did a C-section on her and their child was born | Source: Pexels
What did we learn from this story?
- Human life is very precious. Drew was right when he decided to land the plane at the abandoned airstrip so as to save not just Rose’s life but the baby’s as well. That’s because human life is very precious and should be guarded well.
- Overthinking is not your friend. Rose may have made the flight back to Omaha easily had she not started to overthink things because the plane shook from turbulence. However, once she got herself worked up enough, her body went into hyperdrive, and her water broke. It only goes to show that most times, overthinking does not help.
Share this story with your friends. It might brighten their day and inspire them.
If you enjoyed this story, you might like this one about a pregnant woman who went into labor in a traffic jam and couldn’t get access to an ambulance.
This account is inspired by our reader’s story but written by a professional writer. All names have been changed to protect identities and ensure privacy. Share your story with us; maybe it will change someone’s life. If you would like to share your story, please send it to
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