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'Chilly Dog' Aims To Cool Canines

Sacramento Police Department Testing Prototype

DAVIS, Calif., Updated 10:58 p.m. PDT September 14, 2000 -- The Sacramento Police Department is testing out a new gadget to help protect some of their officers - the ones with four legs.

You hear the term "chilly dog", and a life saving device is probably not what you'd think of, but the Sacramento P.D. is one of many law enforcement agencies trying out prototypes of the high-tech system.

It's designed to keep the valuable canine partners safe in hot situations.

"We could be on another type of call, some kind of critical incident where we haven't deployed him yet. And it doesn't take very long for the temperature to rise in the car. Even several minutes could raise it to a dangerous level, and the dog could succumb to the heat," Officer Joe Leach said.

That's why four years ago, the department installed alarms that sound when the cars reach a certain temperature. But while that may summon help for street officers, loud alarms won't work for undercover detectives.

A company called IC Cubed produces the "chilly dog". It's a single-board computer made by Z-World located in Davis.

"What they do is they pre-program this unit with a temperature threshold and when that threshold is reached, the vehicle automatically turns on and engages the air conditioning," Z-World spokesperson Carrie Maha said.

And if any malfunction occurs, the "chilly dog" can also roll down the windows and send an alert via pager.

The Sacramento P.D. is currently testing one "chilly dog" system on an undercover unit's car.

Z-World has high hopes for the system. The product goes into full production in January. And in January, they should be made available to the public. The cost right is about $445.

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