Farm Fresh Blog

Some things pay for themselves with just one use. You sink money into something in hopes that you never really need it, but when you do . . .

As a crime scene investigator in a major metropolitan city, I am fully aware of how quickly summer heat kills. I've seen it. It's ugly. It terrifies me. And so it was that today when Other Half dropped the phone and ran, I almost burst into tears. 

I waited in silence, telling myself that she'd be okay. That's what the Hotdog system is for - to save lives. 

And today it did.

When I couldn't wait any longer, I called him back. He was on the phone with his Captain. Aja was alive. The system had worked. (And THAT'S why they bought it!)

While Other Half was inside an office doing a report, Aja waited patiently in her air-conditioned police truck. Fortunately Aja is owned by an agency that pays for the Hotdog system. If the temperatures inside that patrol car rise above 83 degrees, the windows will roll down, a fan turns on, the lights and siren on the truck activate, and Other Half gets an alert on the Hotdog pager that he wears on his belt. I was on the phone with him when he heard the alarm go off. He ran. Aja's air conditioner had failed. In this heat, minutes mean death.

Thankfully, the system worked. He rescued her, contacted his supervisor and explained that he was taking Aja home where she'd be safe. The truck can go into the shop on Monday. The system isn't cheap, but it paid for itself today. These police dogs average about $7000, but losing a dog like this isn't about the money. It isn't about the manhours of training lost.

It isn't about the loss of an officer.

It's about the unthinkable. It's about the unbearable.

It's about this . . .