WASHINGTON -- King County prosecutors have charged a Buckley man with animal cruelty after his 2-year-old golden retriever died of heat while locked in a parked truck.
Seattlepi.com reports 49-year-old David A. DeJong left the dog, named Nexus, was locked in the truck while visiting Nolte State Park outside Black Diamond with his grandchildren. By the time King County animal cruelty investigators arrived, the dog's internal temperature was well above 108 degrees.
A passer-by had called 911 after spotting the dog in the truck. The animal was panting heavily and clearly in distress.
Court documents show a King County deputy arrived an hour later to find DeJong at the truck and the dog dead.
The man told investigators he forgot to leave a window open in his car.
[An hour later?! How many people stood around for an hour watching this dog slowly cook to death in this truck? Why didn't anyone DO anything? Bust the window? Hell, if you're afraid you're going to get in trouble - bust the window and drive away! At least the dog wouldn't be dead.
Go sit in your car in the sun with all the windows closed. Try doing this for more than a couple minutes and you'll feel uncomfortable. You'll feel sweat at the base of your back. You'll want to open the window, turn on the engine and blast the AC. But don't do that. Sit. And sit. And sit.
Now try to pretend that you've woken up recently and you don't know where you are, you don't know who brought you here, you don't recognize anyone walking by.
You begin to panic and with the oppressive heat, you begin to feel your mouth get dry, you throat itches and your mouth feels like it has cotton in it. You try to open the door and you can't. You try to unlock it and you can't. You bang on the window and yell for help. People walking by look at you through the glass of the car, but they don't help. Some stop and stand there, looking around as if confused as to whether to help you or not, but eventually everyone just continues on their way and ignores you.
You feel like a hot blanket is wrapped around you and you're suffocating. You're a dog locked in a vehile, you're dying and no one is doing anything about it.]
(Mason County Daily News - June 3, 2012)
