In Loving Memory of  K-9 SULTAN  March 7, 2003    Handler: Officer Jimmy Fogata  Santa Paula Police Department 214 South 10th St.  Santa Paula, CA  93060  805.525.4474 

The Santa Paula Police Departments forth K-9 handler was Senior Officer James A. Fogata. This K-9 was purchased through community donations and a fund raiser by the BLIT Organization (Better Living In Time). After the community heard the department did not have the funds to purchase a replacement K-9, BLIT organized a fundraiser to purchase a K-9.  Senior Officer Fogata and his K-9 Sultan, began K-9 training in July of 1996 with Dave and Debbie Inglis (Dave is at this time, a Lieutenant with the Ventura Police Department and former Ventura Police K-9 handler). Sultan, a German Shepherd was from Germany. Sultan was initially trained as a patrol K-9 with duties identical to former K-9’s. Sultan has the distinction of being the departments first cross trained K-9. Sultan was crossed trained as a drug detection dog, capable of identifying several kinds of controlled substances and marijuana.  During the course of his duties, Sultan was utilized on a possible drug smuggler who landed at the Santa Paula Airport and detained by SPPD Officers, DEA, INS and IRS. Sultan’s ability to indicate on drugs led to the probable cause to search the twin engine Cessna and its contents of 282 kilos of cocaine. The subsequent arrest and prosecution of the smuggler led to the asset seizure of his plane, and expensive home in Montecito, California. The subsequent sale of his property caused almost $90,000 to be awarded to the Santa Paula Police Department by the federal government, strictly for use in drug interdiction. This money was later used by the department to purchase the 6th and 7th police K-9’s.  Senior Officer Fogata and Sultan worked together for a little over 6 years and Sultan began to suffer from lower back problems and was retired from service in July of 2002. K9 Sultan: SPPD canine dies after long and distinguished career  By Peggy Kelly - Santa Paula Times  A highly respected member of the Santa Paula Police Department passed away Friday, and partner Sr. Officer Jimmy Fogata and friends of K-9 Sultan reflected on his unique personality and devotion to duty. Sultan had “been in declining health from long-term stress injuries he suffered during his long and distinguished career,” said SPPD Comdr.. Mark Trimble. “Sultan was considered a very fine police dog and they were outstanding ambassadors to the community.”  “Sultan was a fine dog, a good friend and probably the best partner I ever had,” said Fogata. Sultan joined the SPPD in June 1996 and was retired Aug. 1, 2002.  His back injury had worsened until he became crippled in his final days and the decision reached to put him down. 

On Friday, SPPD officers who wanted to say good-bye visited Sultan; others from the Ventura County K9 Training Group were present at the vets when Sultan was put to sleep. Sultan rode in a police car to his final destination, proudly wearing his badge.  K9s are “awesome, the best tools in law enforcement and Sunny Schmidt and BLIT did a lot of fundraising to buy him for the community.”  Sultan became an “instant celebrity” in 1997 when he was part of the major drug bust at the Santa Paula Airport, where federal agents forced a cocaine smuggler running out of fuel to land.  Sultan was oversized for a K9, about 95 pounds. “I would carry him around on my shoulders, we flew in helicopters together, swam together,” the latter not a favorite of the dog, during the average of 40 hours of monthly K9 training, said Fogata.  “The funniest thing about Sultan was that he really liked women and kids; you could put him in the middle of preschoolers and he’d roll on his back and want his belly scratched. Sultan had a real unique personality. He really liked people except the bad guys.”  And people loved Sultan: they would call out his name during parades and stage birthday parties for him at Las Piedras Park where his treat would be a Big Mac.  Sultan also had dual personalities, a “beast” inside the patrol car and a “gentle giant” once outside.  His gentle giant side led to shaking hands with all the kids, playing dead when Fogata would point his finger and say “Bang!” and hanging out at Cruise Nites.  Sultan didn’t accept retirement easily: “I’d hear him whining behind the front door when I left for work; the dogs are so driven to work it was a hard thing to deal with.”  But then the lazy days of retirement kicked in and Sultan could often be found “laying by the pool and getting spoiled; that was his whole thing, that and being able to sleep in the house at night.”  The inner-puppy in Sultan surfaced when Evan became Fogata’s K9 partner. Initially, “He ignored Evan, considered him a rookie,” not worthy of respect. Sultan’s buddy was the family’s dog Murphy, who he palled around with and enjoyed vacationing with the humans.  “Jimmy and Sultan both displayed to our citizens the best the SPPD has to offer in many ways,” noted Cmdr. Trimble.  “It was an honor serving with Sultan and he was family,” said Fogata. “He’s being cremated and will be back with me. . .”  
notified by Jim Cortina, CPWDA Dir.

In Loving Memory of
K-9 SANDOR
July 15, 2003

Handler: Officer Rodney Stevens
Muleshoe Police Department
Chief of Police Don Carter
215 E Ave B
Muleshoe, Texas 79347
((806)272-4569

Police dog dies in hot car By GREG CUNNINGHAM - gcunningham@amarillonet.com  Amarillo Globe News
MULESHOE - Muleshoe officials are determined to secure a replacement for the city's police dog that died last week of heat exhaustion, despite a price tag that could total several thousand dollars. Police Chief Don L. Carter said Monday that he wants to find a replacement for Sandor, a Belgian Malinois that died July 15 when a patrol car's air conditioning failed on a 100-degree day. "Our intentions are to replace it," Carter said. "We are looking at a couple of different options."  Carter said the best-case scenario would involve a payment from the city's insurance carrier to buy a new dog, which would save the city approximately $8,500. The city did not have an insurance policy on the dog specifically, but Sandor was property of the city, so the replacement may be covered.  Even if insurance doesn't cover it, Carter is committed to finding money to replace a valuable member of the department. "We acquired the dog about 2 1/2 years ago, and I think a lot of people became believers," Carter said. "The dog proved its worth."  Carter said Sandor's death was apparently caused by a shutdown in the air conditioning on the Ford Crown Victoria patrol car.  Sandor's handler, Rodney Stevens, left the dog in the car for about half an hour July 15 to go into the police department and do some paperwork. Police working dogs aren't suited to an office environment, so department procedures called for leaving the dog in the car with the engine on and air conditioner running.  About half an hour after going inside, Stevens went out and found the dog dead and the air conditioner blowing nothing but hot air.  "It could make people think twice about leaving children or pets in a hot car."  Police Chief Don L. Carter  
The local Ford dealership determined that the air conditioner compressor kicked off because the engine got too hot - a safety feature of which Carter said no one was aware.  "This was an unfortunate accident," Carter said. "I guess if anything positive comes out of it, it could make people think twice about leaving children or pets in a hot car. We're talking about 30 minutes here, and that's all it took."  A check with several other law enforcement departments revealed that Muleshoe's policy of leaving the dog in the car is standard.  Jim Watson, national secretary and accredited master trainer with the North American Police Work Dog Association, said police dogs occasionally die from too much heat, despite police departments' best intentions.  "One must remember, you're dealing with a machine, a police car," Watson said. "All machines at one point or another fail. If it was an equipment failure, then accidents do happen."  Watson said he had never heard of the air conditioning kicking off on a running Ford Crown Victoria - a model that makes up a large part of the police fleet in many cities nationwide - but he hears reports of dogs dying in cars due to other factors.  James Smithson, service manger at John Chandler Ford in Amarillo, said today's computer-driven cars will shut down the air conditioning under the right circumstances, including when an engine gets too hot.  "There's several things anymore that will turn the air conditioning off," Smithson said. "If the computer senses the engine is getting so hot it's going to seize up, it's going to shut the compressor down to take some of the load off. It's all up to the computer anymore."
Carter said now that he knows the loss of air conditioning is a possibility, even in a running car, the city will install a temperature monitoring device to protect the next dog. The devices recently have come down in cost to about $800.
"I think it's clear that the dog is a valued member of this department," Carter said. "We'll do what we have to, to find another one and keep it around." also notified by Kelly George & many others

Personal note: this is the second Ford Crown Victoria patrol car that had this problem. K9 Hondo, Kansas City, MO P.D.