Officers responded to the parking lot near Sears at about 3 p.m. and found a bulldog inside a silver Kia, according to a Spartanburg Public Safety Department incident report. The dog was drooling and breathing with a wheezing sound.
By the time another officer arrived, the dog was lying on the passenger seat with his tongue hanging out. The dog was breathing rapidly, the report states.
Officers broke the window to get to the dog. The dog vomited, and its tongue had turned purple, according to the report. An officer tried to give the dog some water, but it was too weak to drink.
[Even after they broke the window, in the video, the poor dog is just lying there panting and trying to breathe.]
The dog's owner, Tony Lee Davis, walked up to the car while officers were there. Davis, 33, of 934 Hutch Mountain Road, was arrested and charged with ill treatment of animals, according to online jail records.
He was later released from the Spartanburg County Detention Facility.
The bulldog, named Thor, is about 18 months old and appeared to be in good health other than having an ear infection, said Dr. Melissa Elledge, a veterinarian at Spartanburg Humane Society.
Thor was lethargic and sleeping Monday, and had tiny bleeds under the surface of his skin, indicative of swelling caused by heatstroke, Elledge said. He is also blind right now, but could regain his vision
when or if the swelling in his brain goes down.
Thor will go to Care Animal Regional Emergency Clinic in Spartanburg Monday night so he can be monitored during the night at the round-the-clock clinic.
“His prognosis is still up in the air right now,” Elledge said. “We still don't know if he's going to make it.”
The temperature inside a car on a summer day can reach a dangerous level for dogs in a matter of minutes, Elledge said, and can lead to heat stroke quickly, which is often fatal for dogs.
Elledge urged pet owners to keep their animals at home during the summer.
“It's not worth risking it (heat stroke),” she said.
The humane society also recommends scheduling outdoor exercise during cooler morning or evening hours, especially for older dogs, or those with thick coats or short noses.
Public Safety Capt. Regina Nowak said officers receive calls about dogs, children and the elderly left unattended in cars. She said Davis was upset about Thor’s condition when he was freed from the car.
Davis told police he and his girlfriend and children had been inside the mall for about 45 minutes.
Officers aren’t sure whether Davis will get Thor back. The dog will remain in police custody until the matter is resolved in court, Nowak said.
Officers and humane society staff urge residents to call 911 if they see a dog in distress inside a hot car.
“All the windows were cracked (in this case), but particularly with that breed of dog, they’re very prone to heat stroke,” Nowak said. “The bottom line is, even if it’s only going to be a few minutes, don’t do it.”
(BlueRidgeNow.com - Aug 12, 2013)
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