The following reports are but a fraction of the hundreds, even thousands, of instances where every year dogs are left in parked cars to die. A lucky few survive. (One county animal shelter reports getting three to six heat-related calls of animal cruelty or animals in distress each day.) Also, many young children die as a result of being left in parked cars in the summertime. One Web site tracked 16 toddlers and infants dead in 2008 in the span of only two months.
08/19/06, Newmarket, ON, Canada
A dog was left to swelter in a car for more than an hour while his owner shopped at a mall. Witnesses who called the police said the dog had been left in the car for at least 20 minutes with only one window barely cracked open. The temperature outside was about 81 degrees Fahrenheit. When the officer tried to open the window more, the dog became scared and lay on the car floor. By the time the officer was able to open the car, the dog didn't respond and needed water and the air-conditioning of the police cruiser before he perked up. When the owner returned to the car he was charged with causing unnecessary suffering to an animal. The dog was turned over to the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. (Toronto Sun)
08/09/06, Savannah, GA
Police say for the third time in just one week, someone left an animal in a hot car. In this case, a woman left her small dog in the cab of a pickup truck for more than three hours while visiting a friend in nearby Georgetown. The dog is okay, but it was hot to the touch and panting heavily when officers showed up. They arrested the woman and charged her with animal cruelty. (WTOC 11)
08/03/06, Shelton, CT
A woman faces a $1,000 fine and a year in prison after being charged with animal cruelty when she left a puppy in a car while temperatures outside registered 102 degrees. The woman had gone into Wal-Mart around noon, leaving Tyson, an 8-month-old pit-bull mix, inside the car which had its front windows open about two inches and back windows open three inches. Police called by witnesses were able to unlock the car door and the dog was put into an air-conditioned cruiser. Tyson was transported to the Shelton dog pound where he is recovering. A local Animal Control Officer said, "If people hadn't called us to tell us about him being locked in the car, I don't think he would have lasted much longer." (Republican-American)
07/22/06, Fredericksburg, VA
A cockatoo died after being left in a hot car while the bird's owner went to the movies. Moviegoers spotted the bird in distress as they were going into the theater. They told an employee, who came outside, saw the bird and called police. When an officer arrived, the cockatoo was lying in a cage in the back seat. The officer quickly got the car door open, but the bird was already dead. The temperature at the time was 90 degrees and the heat index was 97. The windows in the car were all rolled up except for the driver's window, which was open about an inch. The 25-year-old woman was charged with cruelty to animals, a Class 1 misdemeanor that carries a potential 12-month jail sentence. (The Free Lance-Star)
07/17/06, Fort Myers, FL
Four dogs — two of them 6-month-old puppies — were left for nearly an hour in a truck with closed windows while the owner stopped to buy flea and tick control at a local Wal-Mart. Temperatures inside the truck were near 140 degrees. The dogs, which survived, were turned over to Animal Services. The owner was charged with four counts of animal cruelty. (The News-Press)
07/04/06, Cary, NC
A woman left her dog for about an hour inside a 122-degree car in a mall parking lot. The dog survived but the woman was charged with misdemeanor animal cruelty. A veterinarian at Oberlin Animal Hospital in nearby Raleigh cautioned, "The best advice is to leave [animals] at home. In an enclosed vehicle, just may be a matter of five or ten minutes, not very long at all, you think they're safe for just a few minutes to run in. Not so." (www.abc11tv.com)
07/00/06, Oakland, PA
Tia, a 4-year-old cat left in a car by a woman for at least three days, is recovering at a local no-kill shelter. Witnesses called the authorities after noticing the cat seeking shade under a seat while outside temperatures were around 85 degrees. Last summer the woman was convicted in a similar incident in which a dog died of heat stroke in her overheated car. For this current offense, she was ordered to serve 90 days in jail, pay a $750 fine, and forfeit her cat to the shelter. She is prohibited from owning any animals for 90 days. This is the maximum sentence allowable for the summary offense. The woman did not attend the hearing and a warrant was issued for her arrest. (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
06/26/06 - 07/02/06, United Kingdom
In the 7 days between Monday 26 June and Sunday 2 July, the RSPCA dealt with 222 incidents where dogs had been left behind in vehicles. Almost half of these incidents were reported on the July 1-2 weekend. One dog died in a car at Europe's biggest Agricultural Show that weekend. RSPCA officers and the police broke into a BMW at The Royal Show at the National Agricultural Centre, Stoneleigh, Warwickshire, but sadly the whippet had already died. The heat in the car was more than 117 degrees F. Three terrier-type dogs also had to be removed from a van — the RSPCA is investigating both incidents. Around the country, many dogs were left behind without water and were seen sweating, barking, and thrashing around in desperate attempts to escape from vehicles. Anyone found guilty of causing unnecessary suffering to an animal under the 1911 Protection of Animals Act faces up to a £5,000 fine and/or six months in prison. Owners can also be banned from keeping animals, possibly for life. (K9 Magazine)
06/21/06, Tucson, AZ
A young pygmy goat was rescued from death after being found in a hot car in a hospital parking lot. Temperatures inside the car reached as high as 120 degrees. The goat's owners, who apparently left the goat in the car after they were told they could not bring it into the hospital, now face three felony animal cruelty and neglect charges. (www.turnto10.com)
06/19/06, Salt Lake City, UT
A 1-year-old female pit bull (or boxer) mix died at a veterinary clinic after being discovered inside a pickup truck with the windows rolled up. A woman who spotted the dog called Salt Lake County Animal Services, and the animal control officer arrived three minutes later. The officer found the doors to the pickup unlocked. Said a spokesperson for Animal Services, "The dog was lying on its side and panting heavily. The officer poured water all over the dog, but it didn't help." The dog had a temperature of 107 at the vet's, and the truck was near 130 degrees. When the animal control officer returned from taking the dog to the vet, the pickup truck was gone. (KSL TV)
06/16/06, Central Square, NY
A chocolate Labrador died after its 17-year-old owner left it inside a locked car for 2 hours in the parking lot of the Central Square Wal-Mart. The high temperature that day was 82 degrees. When police arrived, an agitated crowd of 30 or more had surrounded the vehicle with the dog convulsing inside. A police sergeant broke a window of the vehicle and removed the 2-year-old dog. It was pronounced dead at a nearby animal hospital a short time later. "It was nothing intentional on the boy's part," said the local police chief. "But he screwed up in a big way." The teenager, from Central Square, is out on bail, facing a charge of misdemeanor animal cruelty in the dog's death from heat exposure. (The Post-Standard)
05/30/06, Hopewell, NY
A woman was charged with animal cruelty after she left her 5-month-old cockapoo puppy in a parked vehicle in direct sunlight, with the passenger window slightly cracked. She left the car in a Wal-Mart parking lot to go see a movie. A Wal-Mart truck driver walking through the parking lot just before 6:00pm heard the dog barking and called 911. By the time police and Humane Society officials arrived, the puppy had died. Temperatures in the area had reached a record 92 degrees. (Rochester Democrat and Chronicle)
05/26/06 (reported), Jacksonville, FL
A woman was arrested on animal cruelty charges after police said she left three puppies locked inside a car that heated up to over 100 degrees. An officer saw the puppies in the car and called for an animal control officer. When they could not locate the owner, the officer jimmied the door open to get them out, but it was too late. The puppies were unresponsive and near death. They were later euthanized. The woman told police she left the puppies inside the car while watching her son play baseball at a nearby park. (www.news4jax.com)
05/24/06, San Bruno, CA
A man left his brother's dog, a black Lab mix named Chase, in his car at 4:00am when he went inside a local casino to gamble. When he returned 8 hours later, the dog was dead. A necropsy confirmed that the dog died of hyperthermia and had bitten his tongue while suffering seizures as the temperature heated up in the car. The man was so distraught he turned himself in to police. Police and the Humane Society plan to ask that animal cruelty charges be filed against him. If convicted, the man could face up to a $20,000 fine and a year in jail. (The Mercury News)
05/16/06, Richland, SC
Attile, a 17-month-old German shepherd, died of heat stroke when a sheriff's deputy in the K-9 unit left the dog in his patrol car while he observed other dog handlers during drug detection training. The dog was unresponsive when he returned to the vehicle. Patrol cars for deputies who handled police dogs are equipped with devices to lower the windows and sound a siren when the temperature in the car exceeds 85 degrees. Officials say the devices were not activated in the deputy's car that day. The deputy has been suspended without pay and the department is implementing a new policy to require that the devices be activated. (www.wistv.com)
11/06/05, Tampa, FL
Lil Mamma, a Jack Russell terrier, died of heat stroke a day after being rescued by a deputy on bicycle patrol from a car parked at a shopping mall. Animal Services took the dog to a veterinarian for emergency treatment of convulsions and heat stroke, but she died the next day. The man who left her in his 4-door sedan with the windows cracked open only a few inches was charged with animal cruelty. (St. Petersburg Times)
08/09/05, Forest Park, GA
An animal rescue activist was arrested on a charge of animal cruelty after leaving her bull terrier, Hank, in her parked car for about 2-1/2 hours while she attended a meeting of the Georgia pet Advisory Board. The arrested woman had checked on Hank about every 45 minutes, to run the air conditioner and give him water. The windows were left about halfway down, but the interior of the car was measured at 103 degrees. She was busted by members of the Department of Agriculture's animal control section, who had been at the meeting and were parked near her car. If convicted, the woman will likely have her license to operate a shelter revoked. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
08/07/05, Rockford, IL
Sampson, a Rottweiler-mix about 6 months old, was left in the back of an extended-cab Ford pickup with only a small opening for air, by a man who went to watch the Rockford AirFest. The man was ticketed for leaving an animal in a vehicle, but animal-cruelty charges may be added later. Police estimate that Sampson was in the truck for more than an hour before he was freed. "When they got there, the dog was on the verge of collapse," said the Director of the Winnebago County Animal Services. "[He] was taken to the emergency clinic on the east side, given an IV of fluid and is doing fine now." The puppy is now in the possession of Animal Services and won't be released to the owner until a meeting with the state's attorney's office. (Rockford Register Star)
08/06/05, Catoosa, IL
A married couple were charged with two counts of animal cruelty each when they left their two Labrador Retrievers to suffocate to death in their black suburban vehicle while they were inside the Cherokee Casino. Only the two back windows cracked about one to two inches, and the dogs had no water. A passerby happened to notice the dogs and called 911. One dog was still alive and foaming at the mouth when the passerby called but the dog died by the time help arrived. The couple was distraught. The cruelty to animal charge carries a fine of up to $500 or imprisonment for up to 5 years or both. (Claremore Daily Progress)
08/03/05, St. Clairsville, WV
Animal cruelty charges have been filed against a woman who left her small dog locked in a parked car for more than 30 minutes while she shopped at a local Toys R Us. Alerted by a caller, Belmont County sheriff’s deputies unlocked the car, removed the “suffering” dog, and gave him water while they waited for the owner to return to the car. The temperature at the time was 86 degrees with a heat index of 92 degrees. "It was a small dog, and the little guy was panting," a Sheriff’s Department spokesman said. "She left three windows of the vehicle cracked about an inch." The woman said she was sending her children out to check on the dog. (www.news-register.net)
07/18/05, Coarsegold, CA
A man from Sunland, CA, was arrested after deputies found a small white dog locked inside a car at the Chukchansi Casino. All the windows on the car were rolled up. By the time the 12-year-old dog was found, he was barely alive. His breathing was shallow and, despite efforts by security and casino patrons to give the animal water, he lacked any strength to take a gulp. Animal Control was called in and took custody of the dog. The man is facing felony animal cruelty charges, and was released from the county jail after posting a $10,000 bond. (www.maderatribune.com)
07/12/05, Salt Lake City, UT
A man was cited for animal cruelty after he left his Labrador retriever mix for about 2-1/2 hours inside a vehicle parked with no shade and the windows rolled up. The man went to visit his father, then decided to go to lunch and forgot about his dog. Police received a call that the dog was inside the vehicle thrashing around, which meant the dog was probably having a seizure. When an animal control officer arrived after 1:45 p.m., the dog was already dead. Every day, Salt Lake County Animal Services gets about three to six heat-related calls of animal cruelty or animals in distress, said an agency spokeswoman. (Salt Lake Tribune)
07/09/05, Sterling, CO
A young woman was charged with two misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty after leaving two puppies in her car while she and four companions shopped at a local Wal-Mart for camping supplies. After a woman reported hearing puppies crying inside the car, a Humane Society animal warden popped open the car door, where the temperature hit an estimated 120 degrees. The puppies had been left in a cardboard box on the front seat. One died but the other crawled or fell out of the box onto the shaded floor. The young woman had rescued the runts after they were shunned by their mother. (Journal-Advocate)
06/26/05, Bloomington, IL
A Texas man visiting Bloomington was arrested on a possible charge of cruelty to animals after his 2-year-old pit bull dies inside his car. The man was helping his young children at a local hotel and did not realize it was hot. The pit bull had been in the car for about 90 minutes. Although one of the car's windows was down 2-3 inches, the Sunday morning temperature was 92 degrees, leading to temperatures inside the car of 140-160 degrees. (www.pantagraph.com)
06/24/05, Elkhart, IN
A man was arrested on charges of animal cruelty after he left his Jack Russell terrier locked in the cab of his pickup truck for more than an hour in sweltering heat. After a bystander saw the dog lying on the floor in the pickup, barely able to raise his head, employees of a local store tried unsuccessfully to page the truck's owner, then called the police. Police picked the lock on the pickup truck and the dog was turned over to the Humane Society. The man could face up to one year in prison if convicted.. (www.etruth.com)
06/21/05, Terre Haute, IN
Mika, a drug-sniffing dog for the Vigo County Sheriff's Department, died of heat exhaustion when the air-conditioning of the police car he was waiting in failed after three hours. Mika stayed in the car while his handler, a deputy sheriff, accompanied a combative man to a local hospital's emergency room. Although the car engine was running, the air-conditioning coolant apparently leaked out through a small hole. The county sheriff said Mika's death was an accident and there would be no disciplinary action. (www.familybadge.org)
06/21/05, Tucson, AZ
Eight of 35 racing greyhounds died of heat stroke after a 12-hour drive from Tucson to Mexico in an air-conditioned trailer. The man who transported them said he had no idea the Arizona Gaming Commission had issued new rules for transporting greyhounds in 1993. The new rules allow no more than 2 dogs per kennel (there were as many as 4), and require the dogs be walked and given water every 4 hours (they weren't). The man was fined $500 and his license suspended for 60 days. He plans to return to racing as soon as he can. (www.dailystar.com)
05/30/05, Edmonton, AB
A woman left her small dog in the car and the dog died from the heat. Police are investigating the incident. (www.canoe.ca)
05/27/05, Seattle, WA
A woman brought her dog, Bruno, to work, but left him in her parked car. Locked up for 4 hours, toward the end Bruno decided to chew his way out, tearing out the door moldings, clawing at the windows, and practically ripping the ceiling to shreds. "I thought it would be okay," said Bruno’s companion. "I came out and checked up on him twice and I thought he would be OK. I gave him some water." Because she had not broken any laws, the woman was not cited. Luckily, Bruno survived. (www.komotv.com)
06/30/04, Largo, FL
When a squad car pull into his mobile home park, a man took off running, leaving his 11-year-old golden retriever, Mickey, inside his Jeep Cherokee. The engine was off and the windows were closed. When the man returned three hours later, he found Mickey dead inside. The man was arrested on a charge of animal cruelty. There were no outstanding warrants or other reason for him to fear the police. (St. Petersburg Times)
06/16/04, Albany, NY
A police dog named Bosco died when air-conditioning failed in the squad car in which he was waiting. His body temperature was 106 degrees when he was found. He was taken to local vet where he was cooled with water, but was in severe shock and later died. The sheriff said that what once was standard policy (to leave the dog in the car) will be changed so that dogs will accompany their handler wherever they go. (Capital News 9)
06/04/04, Epping, NH
A man was charged with animal cruelty after his pit bull died from heat when he allegedly left the dog chained inside a car for several hours with no water and little air. The passenger's side window was open about 8 inches but was not enough to cool the dog. The dog's body temperature exceeded 110 degrees, according to a local veterinarian who examined the body. The animal cruelty charge against the man is a class A misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in prison and a $1,000 fine. (Sea Coast Online)
05/00/04, Weymouth, Dorset, United Kingdom
A man was ordered to pay costs of nearly £35,000 and was banned from keeping dogs for 10 years after leaving nine puppies in his car's trunk while he caught a ferry to Jersey with six others. The court was told that the dogs, discovered by a parking attendant hearing them whimpering, were "panting heavily." A policeman's evidence described the heat coming from the car as being "like a sauna." The puppies recovered and have been re-homed. (Dorset Echo)
05/00/04 (reported 06/17/04), Westmoreland County, PA
A woman faces charges for allegedly leaving her dog inside a hot car while she went into a bar. Police said it was so hot inside the car that the dog died. She faces animal cruelty charges which could have large fines and jail time. (WPXI Pittsburgh)