NSW Police dogs died after the air conditioning in their patrol car broke on sweltering Sydney day

The mysterious death of two NSW Police dogs was likely caused by their patrol car’s air conditioner breaking down on a day when temperatures hit 30C, the state’s top cop has said.

Seven-year-old police dog Xtra and development dog Soldier, aged one, were at a development day with their handler in Lucas Heights, in Sydney’s south, on Thursday when they were found dead in the back of their Volkswagen Tiguan.

WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Detectives investigate the death of two dogs inside a hot patrol car.

Authorities said the two German shepherds had been kept in air-conditioned pods inside the vehicle, which was purpose-built for them. But when they were checked on about 12.30pm, both were found dead.

“They were taken to a specialist veterinary clinic but were unable to be revived,” NSW Police said in a statement.

Handler ‘devastated’

The dogs’ handler has been left “devastated” by their deaths.

“He had the very difficult task of going home yesterday afternoon to inform his wife and his two children,” NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb said.

Superintendent Stephen Hegarty told reporters the dogs were left unattended in a police vehicle for two hours.

“It is normal procedure to put the dogs in those pods... with the primary cooling source being the air conditioner,” he said.

“Unfortunately, when we returned to the motor vehicle, the power had seized and obviously that means the air conditioner ceased as well.”

Hegarty described the air conditioner pods as “state-of-the-art equipment”.

“Those dogs could be in the rear of the car at nighttime for a long period of time... so it is not unusual.”

Police do not currently believe the car ran out of fuel.

An alarm did warn the cooling was out but no one heard it. By the time police arrived, it was too late.

Webb described the incident as a “very unhappy and tragic set of circumstances”.

“We are putting all the support we can around that officer and other officers in the dog squad while they come to grips with what has happened,” she told reporters on Friday.

“We will also continue to support the officer and his family and other staff over the next days and weeks.

“And after we conduct our investigation, we can provide a further update as to what’s happened.”

An investigation overseen by detectives from the Sutherland Police Area Command and Fleet Services is now underway.

Police have made immediate changes while the investigation proceeds, including kennelling their dogs and increasing the intervals of inspections.

Calls for change

Xtra gained accreditation as a general-purpose dog six years ago, while Soldier only began service with the Dog Unit in February for training and development.

Commissioner Webb lauded the dogs as highly trained and vital for officers serving the community.

“Today is a very sad day for the Dog Unit and the thoughts of the whole police family are with them,” Webb said on Thursday.

“We owe it to PD Xtra and DD Soldier to conduct a thorough investigation.”

Greens MP Sue Higginson questioned police protocols for looking after the dogs, saying they were clearly not adequately supervised and that led to their deaths.

“If a member of the public were to leave an animal that they were responsible for inadequately supervised in a vehicle, they would be committing an act of cruelty — why do the NSW Police get a pass on this?”

-With AAP