Dog found dead in Coachella car; Irvine woman arrested

CALIFORNIA -- A dog was found dead in a locked vehicle with the windows rolled up in Coachella on Monday, and an Irvine woman has been arrested on suspicion of animal cruelty, Riverside County sheriff’s officials said.

A CHP officer spotted the dog’s body in the parked vehicle at 10:37 p.m. near a business at Vista Del Norte and Dillon Road, a sheriff’s news release stated.

The CHP officer called sheriff’s deputies, who interviewed employees at the business and learned that the vehicle had been there for more than a day.

Investigators tracked down the owner of the vehicle and dog, Charu Lata Khanna, 29, and arrested her. She was booked into the Indio Larson Justice Center and held in lieu of $5,000 bail, booking logs show.

Sheriff’s officials urge the public to immediately call 911 if they see an animal in an unattended vehicle because temperatures inside can be 20 to 40 degrees hotter than the outside, the release stated.

(OC Register - May 7, 2014)