NORTH CAROLINA -- Two puppies are recovering after a Rock Hill Police officer rescued them from a car in nearly 100-degree weather.
The pups were spotted inside a vehicle at the Cherry Park Shopping Center parking lot around 4:30 p.m. Wednesday in the blazing sun.
The officer said the puppies were so overheated, she had to put the pups in a cooler to bring their temperatures down.
Their owner, Latoya Reid, is accused of leaving the puppies in the car while she was getting her hair done.
The temperatures at the time of the incident was 94 degrees.
Rock Hill Police Officer Robin Gander's quick thinking saved the pups' lives.
"The only thing I had on me was my food cooler that I kept my lunch in," Gander said. "I was able to put them so they sat in my cooler. They both fit in there and (I) just started blasting the AC."
Reid was arrested and charged with ill treatment of animals.
Studies show, even in 60-degree weather, on a sunny day a car can get up to 100 degrees in just minutes -- even with the windows cracked.
NBC Charlotte's Billie Jean Shaw talked to Dr. Robin LePardo of Central Carolinas Animal Hospital about what that means for pets.
“The fur will insulate their bodies and then they start having clots, the clots can go to their brain and they can die.”
GEORGIA -- Duluth Police arrested two people accused of leaving three animals locked inside a hot car in a Wal-Mart parking lot.
Brianna Bennett and Samuel Boyd are charged with three counts of cruelty to animals. They are being held at the Gwinnett County Jail.
Officers rescued the animals Saturday after they found two dogs and a cat inside the car, where temperatures had climbed to 111 degrees.
"Our officer was patrolling the area when he noticed a dog lingering," Officer Julian Lee-Foon said. "The dog then staggered over to a parked car. That's when the officer saw the white husky mix trapped inside.
"We think the pup that got the officer's attention managed to get out of the car by squeezing through the slightly cracked window."
"They CLAIMED that they were only inside for 15-20 minutes, but we checked surveillance video and it proved otherwise," Lee-Foon said.
Authorities told FOX 5, Bennett and her boyfriend were inside the Wal-Mart for at least an hour and a half.
Foon was one of the responding officers. He used his tactical helmet as a water bowl to help the dogs.
"I knew a water bottle wouldn't be enough," Lee-Foon said.
Foon said another shocking discovery was made when another noticed a backpack in the front seat moving.
"The officer opened it up, and there was a cat inside," Lee-Foon said. "The cat was on the brink of death."
The animals were transported to Gwinnett Animal Shelter.
Amazingly, all three animals survived.
"This was the worst we had ever seen," Officer Julian Lee-Foon said. "We are just glad the animals are okay and the suspects are behind bars.
GEORGIA -- There's been an enormous online response to a body-camera video that shows Roswell police rescuing two dogs, trapped in a car that was 167-degrees inside.
The Facebook video made Beloadea Omerto-Anderson head straight to the Fulton County Animal Shelter on Wednesday afternoon. She wanted to adopt the dogs rescued.
"It's just horrible and horrific how the dogs even look,” Omerto-Anderson said.
That's about all Channel 2’s Nicole Carr knows now of the dogs' current condition, two days after Roswell police came to their rescue.
Omerto-Anderson won't be able to adopt the tiny dogs for the same reason Channel 2 Action News’ camera were denied access to them -- they're evidence in a criminal case against the owner.
According to a Roswell police report, it was 89 degrees at 52 percent humidity Sunday afternoon when a good Samaritan called them to a parking lot off Holcomb Bridge Road.
But inside the Chevy Impala, police said it was a blistering 167-degrees.
"The windows were actually cracked, all of the windows were cracked, but that doesn't mean, you know that the car is getting any sort of breeze,” Officer Lisa Holland said. “It was parked directly in the sunshine. There was no shade for this car.”
Emergency responders wasted no time cracking a fire hydrant to cool the dogs off.
“In this case, the lady was inside watching a movie with her family,” Holland said.
“That's just crazy and bizarre. There's no words to explain how stupid a person can be,” Omerto-Anderson said.
The owner of the dogs, Shaquanda Marie Cole, 35 of Bonaire, was charged with two counts of animal cruelty. Cole wasn't taken into custody because she lives three hours away. She's in court next month.
GEORGIA -- Police have arrested a woman after they say she left her dog in a hot car in Pooler. This is now an ongoing investigation into possible animal cruelty.
High temperatures this time of year can prove deadly for animals left in cars without the windows down or the air conditioning on.
When Pooler police made it on scene to this dog locked in a car, temperatures were in the nineties.
“Hey just don’t do it,” says Pooler Police Deputy Chief Tim Ward.
Major Tim Ward weighs in on the latest case of police responding to a pet locked in a hot car off Pooler Parkway.
“I guess I would say there’s always people that want to say, ‘well if you leave your dog in the car for ten minutes this is how the temperature goes’ I’d say don’t leave your dog in a hot car at all.”
Police arrested 23-year-old Amber Duewer for leaving her dog in a hot car at the Pooler Tanger Outlets. It’s not the first or last call they expect to answer.
“If you go one time, that’s too many,” says Maj. Ward.
The report says police received multiple calls about the pet. When they arrived on scene they found the dog in distress in the front floorboard of the car.
They then called Pooler Fire for help with entering the car. The officer then waited for upwards to 35 minutes, dog still in the car, until Duewer returned.
I'm sorry but that's bull! You see the dog in distress AND YOU LEAVE HIM THERE FOR ANOTHER HALF HOUR TO SUFFER??? Get the dog out, put him in your air-conditioned vehicle and track the time. Why make the dog suffer???? God.
When he questioned her about the dog, the report says she responding by saying it had water alluding to a water bottle sitting in the center console.
“It still goes on even though the message has been repeated over and over again about animals in hot cars, it’s just not a good idea.”
We reached out to Chatham County Animal Services who took the dog, they tell us it is recovering well. Police have charged the owner with animal cruelty.
“Honestly, whether or not it be prosecution or the loss of a pet, I mean this is something that could change your life forever, it’s a bigger decision than it feels like when you leave a pet in a car for a few minutes.”
The pet owner will have her day in court in August.
ARREST INFO:
Full Name: Amber Lynn Duewer
Date:06/22/2017
Time: 3:07 PM
Arresting Agency: POOLER PD
Total Bond: $1300
Arrest Age:22
Gender: Female
Birthdate: 06/25/1994
Arrest Location: Chatham County, Georgia
Charges
#1 CRUELTY TO ANIMALS
STATUTE: 16-12-4(b) ( M)
