The Department of Public Safety is mourning the loss of its first comfort dog, Baxter.
Officials said Baxter died on Wednesday afternoon when the state vehicle he was in stopped running, shutting down the air conditioning.
Baxter, a 3-year-old chocolate lab, joined the Maine Bureau of Emergency Communications in 2022. He was at the Bangor Regional Communications Center when he died.
Baxter’s mission was to comfort first-line responders in Maine’s three emergency communication centers.
The Department of Public Safety is investigating the state vehicle that Baxter was in for possible malfunctions that caused it to stop running.