ohmidog!

A  police dog named Serge died of “heat exhaustion” last week after an alarm system failed to alert his handler that the air conditioner had malfunctioned in the car he’d been left in, police in Camden, N.J., said Monday.

“Most of the electrics went out. And the air conditioner, instead of cooling the vehicle, was pulling all the heat from the engine. [The dog] probably went in like 10 minutes,” said Joe Rodriguez, supervising trainer at the Atlantic County K-9 Academy in Egg Harbor Township, told the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Apparently, both the air conditioner and heat alarm failed, Rodriguez said. Rodriguez who trained the German shepherd and his handler, said the alarm is designed to set off a siren and roll down the vehicle’s windows when the temperature inside rises too high.

The dog was found dead in the vehicle, parked outside police headquarters in downtown Camden. The temperature that day, Thursday, reached a high of 92 degrees.

“We still have much more investigating to do before we determine causes and issue conclusions,” Police Chief Scott Thomson said.

The death of police dogs from heat exhaustion — often while they are waiting in cars — has been an all-too frequent occurence across the country this summer.

“It has been a problem with some law enforcement due to malfunctioning equipment, some of it due to human error,” said Russell Hess, national director of the U.S. Police Canine Association. “We usually hear about it every summer.”

Rodriguez, who trains K-9 officers from all over New Jersey, said he recommends that handlers check their dogs every 20 minutes — even when their vehicles are equipped with heat alarms.

“They’re like anything else. They can be hit or miss,” he said. “You get a false sense of security.”

Serge, not quite two-years-old, joined the Camden police force in January.

“He had already captured a bank robbery suspect and had assisted in several other apprehensions as well,” said Chief Thomson.

Watching an Italian supermodel suffer in a hot car may not spur exactly the same emotions as watching a dog trapped in one, but we’ve got to give PETA credit at least for keeping this issue in the forefront.

Elisabetta Canalis, who previously posed for PETA in an anti-fur ad, braves the heat again in this new public service announcement reminding people not to leave their dogs in parked cars.

“… Elisabetta endures the panic and pain that a dog feels when left in a car on a summer day — even with the windows open a crack,” PETA says. “…. As panic and anxiety set in, Elisabetta’s condition deteriorates rapidly with the addition of excessive thirst, lethargy, lack of coordination, and a rapid heartbeat.”

Elisabetta aside, the facts are these: On even a 78-degree day, the temperature inside a shaded car can rise to 90 degrees; in the sun it can climb to 160 — and in just a matter of minutes.

Animals can quickly suffer heatstroke, sustain brain damage and die in as little as 15 minutes.

Here’s PETA’s advice should you ever confront a dog in that situation:

Upset that her family’s parked car had been blocked by another vehicle, a Newark woman threatened and assaulted the car’s owner and threw her shih tzu into oncoming traffic, authorities say.

Honey Bey, 2 years old, died instantly.

Nearly ten months later, an Essex County grand jury indicted Haniyyah Barnes (above right) this week on charges of  animal cruelty, burglary, criminal mischief and theft, according to the Newark Star-Ledger

Prosecutors said a Newark police officer who happened to be patrolling in the area saw Barnes storm out of the house with one hand around the 4-pound dog’s throat and toss her into the street.

The argument began when Barnes went to the home of a neighbor who was allowing Barnes’ mother to park her car there. The homeowners vehicle was blocking it in the driveway.

Prosecutors say Barnes, 25, began screaming and kicked in the woman’s front door, then threatened and assaulted the woman.

At that point, Honey Bey, the 31-year-old homeowner’s dog, started barking. Barnes grabbed the dog and threw her into oncoming traffic, police said.

“It was a tiny dog that was barking instinctively to protect its owner,” said Assistant Essex County Prosecutor Michele Miller. “It wasn’t attacking the defendant. It went to see what the commotion was and paid for it with its life.”

If convicted, Barnes faces up to 10 years in prison on a second-degree burglary charge and five years for the third-degree animal cruelty count. She remains free on bail and an arraignment is scheduled for June 18 in Superior Court in Newark.

Barnes’ public defender could not be reached for comment. A relative told the Star-Ledger that Barnes “wasn’t in her right mind when she did it,” and that she believed alcohol played a role in the incident.

Two bicycle-riding police officers in West Palm Beach stopped to check on a dog locked in a car, an act that led them to find more than 400 grams of marijuana inside.

Police reports say two officers on bicycle detail were patrolling the parking lot of a Brandsmart when they spotted a dog Thursday inside a blue Buick — panting and without water.

While eyeing the dog though the partially cracked windows, they detected the “strong odor of marijuana” and saw a pipe containing residue.

When the car’s owner returned to his vehicle, he apologized for leaving the dog unattended and admitted he had marijuana in the car, according to the Palm Beach Post.

Officers found 478.3 grams of marijuana that the car’s owner told them was for his personal use.

Police arrested 40-year-old Raymond Hendry Zerba, of Cooper City, on charges of possession of marijuana over 20 grams, possession with intent to sell, possession of drug paraphernalia and animal cruelty.

He was being held at the Palm Beach County Jail in lieu of $3,000 bond. News accounts don’t mention what happened to the dog.

A tourist from Michigan was charged with animal cruelty Monday after leaving his two dogs inside a minivan while he visited the the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington.

Rosie, an 8-year-old Chihuahua, died of heat stress after being inside the minivan for more than an hour, said Sabrina Fang, a spokeswoman for the Washington Humane Society.

Pebbles, Rieff

Rosie had been left inside a plastic storage bin. A second dog, a 15-year-old beagle mix named Pebbles, was kept inside a crate made for dogs. She was treated for heat stress at an animal hospital, and was expected to be released today, according to the Washington Post.

Washington Humane Society officials say more tourists seem to be leaving pets inside cars, unaware of how quickly the temperatures can rise.

Police arrested Kenneth Reiff, and his daughter was taken into custody by Child Protective Services, Humane Society officials said.

A Labrador retriever died after being left in a car parked outside a Costco in Frederick, Maryland.

A Maltese died after being left in a parked van while his owner went for a swim in a New York park.

A rash of similar cases have been reported across the heat-waved northeast, leading animal advocates to reiterate what they have long said — but apparently not everybody has heard: Dogs should never be left in parked cars, especially not in summer

In the Maryland case, Frederick County Animal Control says the dog was left in a car on Tuesday, as temperatures climbed to 104 degrees, the Washington Post reported. Authorities were notified about the dog, but by the time investigators arrived the dog was dead and the owner of the car was gone. Authorities are still investigating.

Earlier this week, a Bronx man left his Maltese inside his van at FDR State Park in Westchester, while he went for an hour-long swim, the New York Daily News reported.

The first comes from Washington, D.C., where a woman left her Yorkshire terrier in her car Saturday while she popped into a laundromat. When she returned, her car window was smashed and her beloved William was gone.

“He’s so much a part of my family. Everyone that knows him loves him. I know he’s scared right now. I can’t sleep because I know he’s scared, and he doesn’t know these people. He’s not gonna eat. They just need to get him back,” Denise Conner-Battle told ABC 7 News.

The second comes from Middleton, Wisconsin, where a dog left in a car while his owner stopped for lunch Thursday somehow managed to shift the car from park to neutral.

Police said the car rolled out of its parking spot and into a pickup truck across the lot. Damage to both vehicles was estimated in the thousands of dollars, according to an Associated Press report. The dog was fine.

It’s strictly coincidental that — at the same time a dog perished in a parked car during “American Idol” auditions — PETA was putting the finishing touches on a public service announcement by Simon Cowell about the dangers of leaving dogs in parked cars.

Now, though, PETA is rushing the “Idol” judge’s PSA to television stations across the country.

“Far be it from me to be critical, but I find it really appalling that, this year, thousands of dogs will die of heatstroke inside parked cars,” Cowell says in the spot, in which he appears with his canine pal, Claude. “Never ever leave your dog inside a parked car. Your dog idolizes you. In warm weather, keep him safe at home.”

PETA hopes the PSA might deter further deaths as summertime temperatures rise.

Quincy Vanderbilt, a 24-year-old from North Dakota, left his small terrier in his vehicle while he and his girlfriend lined up for Denver auditions for the show.

When he returned — nine hours later — the dog was dead. Vanderbilt was cited on a misdemeanor charge of animal cruelty.

“Simon would be shocked to know that this incident happened during auditions for his own show,” PETA Vice President Daphna Nachminovitch, said in a press release. “Even on merely warm days, it’s better to be safe than sorry and plan to leave your animal companions comfortably at home.”

Five Pekingnese and a pit bull left unattended in a car parked outside a Greenville, South Carolina employment office Monday have all died.

And a mother and her son have been sentenced to 96 hours in connection with the case, News 2 in Charleston, S.C. reported.

Apparently justice moves swiftly, if not with much severity, in Greenville.

Two of the dogs were found dead in the car Monday; the four others died later while receiving treatment at an animal hospital. 

Tanya Dunlap, 44, and Chris Dunlap, 20, both of Hoquiam, Wash., were charged after officers were called to the employment office after Chris Dunlap ran inside asking for water for his dogs because they were not moving.

Officers said that when they arrived the Dunlaps, along with others, were trying to provide medical attention to the animals by pouring water on them and packing ice around their bodies. They said that two of the dogs were dead when they arrived.

According to police, three more of the dogs died at a local animal hospital. They said the sixth dog died on Tuesday night, Fox News reported.

Police in the Dunlap’s hometown say Tanya Dunlap also faces charges there of animal neglect and abuse, stemming from having too many animals, the Associated Press reported.

(Photos: Greenville, S.C. Police Department)

Acting on a tip passed on by the SPCA, authorities in Texas yesterday seized 22 dogs that were confined in a single station wagon, parked on the side of a road.

When officials approached the car, on an unmarked road near the police station in Pottsboro, the woman inside locked the doors and refused to come out. Pottsboro is in Grayson County, about 80 miles north of Dallas.

Inside the car were 20 adult dogs and two newborns — all appearing to be Papillons and long-hair Chihuahuas — crowded in among blankets, a pot of water and waste.  Investigators don’t know how long the dogs had been in the car, the Dallas Morning News reported.

Eventually the woman and dogs were removed from the vehicle. The animals were taken to a shelter in McKinney, according to Maura Davies, an SPCA of Texas spokesperson. The woman in the car was not charged, or identified. Officials said she was not coherent.

“We could smell ammonia from urine a few feet away from the car as we were approaching,” Davies said. “It was utterly filthy.”

SPCA staff took the dogs to the Perry Animal Care Center in McKinney, where the dogs will remain until a judge decides whether to grant custody to the owner or the SPCA.  A hearing was scheduled for next week.

(Photo courtesy of the SPCA of Texas)