Dog Left In Hot Car While Owner Went To Restaurant

A dog was left in a hot car in Huntsville, Alabama, while its owner went to a restaurant to get takeout. Local media reports said that police responded to an animal in a car at the parking of Ol’ Heidelberg on University Drive.

Officers said someone called about a small cocker spaniel inside a car with the windows up. The responding officer reportedly waited several minutes to see if someone came out to the car. When a lot of time passed, police called Huntsville firefighters to let the dog out of the vehicle. Fire crews responded and rescued the animal, local media reported.

Authorities said it was extremely hot inside the vehicle, and the dog was in the car with no air for more than an hour. It is inhumane to leave a dog inside a vehicle under such conditions.

Police were able to contact the owner, 61-year-old Jamelle Linker, who was later arrested and charged with animal cruelty on Sunday.

Last month, a dog left in a car in high temperature in Colorado was rescued by an officer with the Loveland Police Department. The Larimer Humane Society posted video clips of the rescue on social media. The clips show an officer shattering the driver’s side window of the parked car to get to the dog. According to the humane society, on an 85-degree day, the internal temperature of a vehicle with its windows slightly open can reach 102 degrees within 10 minutes and 120 degrees within 20 minutes.

In May, a 20-year-old was charged with animal cruelty after she locked her dog in her car at a Burger King parking lot on Cleveland Street in Elyria, Ohio. Burger King employee Antonio Arroyo found the dog locked in the car and quickly called the police.