A 3-year-old police dog died Wednesday after the air-conditioning unit in a squad car malfunctioned while the dog and his handler were on duty at the popular PGA Championship golf tournament.

Wix, a Belgian Malinois, was on assignment with the Brown County Sheriff's Office at the tournament in Kohler, Wisconsin.

Brown County Sherriff's Office spokesman Scott Semb said that Deputy Austin Lemberger, his handler, left Wix 'in the squad car with the engine running and the air conditioning on (and) conducted checks on Wix throughout the morning,' the Greenbay Press Gazette reported.

'The air conditioning unit was not functioning properly ... Deputy Lemberger's squad car is equipped with heat alarm (but it) did not activate when the air conditioning unit failed.'



Tragic: A 3-year-old police dog named Wix (above) died on Wednesday after the air-conditioning unit in a squad car malfunctioned while the dog and his handler were at the PGA Championship golf tournament in Wisconsin

Lemberger found Wix unresponsive in the back of his squad car at 12:30 p.m.

The Brown County Sheriff's Office is conducting a 'thorough' investigation into Wix's death.

'Wix was a valuable member of this agency and community and will be sadly missed by all,' Semb told the Press Gazette.

'Our thoughts are with Deputy Lemberger while he copes with the loss of his K-9 partner.'

K-9 Unit: Brown County Sheriff's Office Deputy Austin Lemberger (above far right) is pictured in a photo holding Wix's leash with the other dogs apart of the office's K-9 Unit

Lemberger has been serving since 2007, according to the Brown County Sheriff's Office website.

The K-9 Unit is trained in patrol tactics, including tracking and area searches for missing people or suspects.

The special dogs also protect their handlers, which is whom they live with when they are not on duty.

This is not the first police dog to die in a hot car this summer.

A sheriff's deputy in Texas was fired after his police dog died after being left in a hot car for at least 20 hours this week.

Latham Roldan forgot to take his police dog, Jola, out of his patrol car on Sunday. Roldan, a seven-year veteran of the Jim Wells County Sheriff's Department, reportedly left the kennel inside of the car when he went home from work.

Jola, was also a Belgian Malinois, was trapped in the car in Alice, Texas and was found dead in the car the next day.