His owner, Peter M. Giblin, on the other hand, was taken into custody after police allegedly found 7 grams of marijuana packaged for sale in his 1996 Honda Civic, along with the dog.
Mashpee police Officer Michael Assad and Barnstable Sheriff's Deputy Kim Saladino, both members of the Barnstable Street Crime Unit, were patrolling near the college parking lot around 2:30 p.m. Tuesday when they saw the dog in Giblin's unoccupied car, Barnstable police Detective Lt. John Murphy said.
Although the car's window was cracked open, the temperature outside reached a high of 70 degrees Tuesday. That made Assad, a K-9 officer, and Saladino concerned for the animal's welfare, Murphy said. Assad gave Cooper some water through the partially opened window while the school attempted to track down North Eastham resident Giblin, 25, a student at the college, whose last class ended at 12:45 p.m.
But Giblin was nowhere to be found.
When Barnstable animal control officer Charles Lewis arrived, he determined the temperature inside the car was 106 degrees.
Assad promptly opened the locked car to rescue Cooper, who was taken to Barnstable Animal Control headquarters for evaluation.
Inside the car, police allegedly saw a Mason jar containing seven bags of marijuana with a combined street value of $140, which they believe were packaged to be sold, Murphy said.
When Giblin returned to his car around 3:40 p.m., he was arrested and charged with cruelty to animals and possession of marijuana with intent to distribute.
He is scheduled to be arraigned in Barnstable District Court today.
(Cape Cod Online - April 10, 2013)
