A dog died after being left inside a parked vehicle amid 90-degree heat in Roanoke, Virginia, prompting felony animal cruelty charges.
Roanoke police on Tuesday arrested 37-year-old James Lipscomb and 38-year-old Ashleigh Hutton, both of Roanoke County, charging them with two counts of felony animal cruelty, the department confirmed to local media.
Police found two dogs inside a car around 1:25 p.m. Sunday after a Door Dash driver called 911, adding that one of the dogs died from signs of heatstroke. The dog that survived went to the Emergency Veterinary & Specialty Services in Roanoke for the same condition, local outlet WDBJ7 reports.
Door Dash driver Victoria Owens called police after she couldn't get ahold of the owners, she said in a video that has gone viral on social media. One of the dogs had died by the time police were able to remove them from the vehicle, she said. Virginia does not have a "Good Samaritan" law, which would have allowed Owens to break a window to rescue the dogs before police arrived.
Newsweek has reached out via email and Twitter to the Roanoke Police Department for comment.
Two additional dogs were seized from their home, police said, adding that the department's animal wardens have filed a petition for custody of all the remaining dogs. It's unclear how many dogs Lipscomb and Hutton owned.
Owens' disturbing video has gone viral on TikTok, garnering more than 3 million views. The graphic clip shows the visibly distressed dogs panting in a vehicle.
"It was about 90 degrees and they [the dogs] were parked in direct sunlight, no shade at all, and it was a black vehicle so that car was hot," Owens told the local outlet. "It was bad."
Owens said the dogs were inside the hot car for at least 15 minutes.
"It was very heartbreaking," she said. "As a bully owner myself, I own a pit bull boxer mix and I've owned bulldogs in the past, I know they cannot handle the heat. They should not be in extreme heat at all."
Franklin County Humane Society Planned Pethood and Adoption Center also posted a warning on its Facebook page following the dog's death, urging people to not leave pets in hot cars.
"PSA needs to be said every summer ... do not leave your dogs, your kids, or even your grandma in the car in the heat. This happened today in Roanoke. The white dog died at the scene," reads the Facebook post, which includes photos of the dogs and owners' vehicle and dog-breeding website.
The inside of a vehicle can reach deadly temperatures quickly, animal groups say.
The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals warns that on an 85-degree day, the temperature inside a car can reach 102 degrees in just 10 minutes. After a half hour, it can soar to 120 degrees.
A dog or cat's temperature should never go above 104 degrees, according to the ASPCA, which cautions against ever leaving a pet in a parked car even with the windows cracked or the air conditioner running.
Despite the warning, 31 animals have already died in hot vehicles this year, according to People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
");jQuery(this).remove()}) jQuery('.start-slider').owlCarousel({loop:!1,margin:10,nav:!0,items:1}).on('changed.owl.carousel',function(event){var currentItem=event.item.index;var totalItems=event.item.count;if(currentItem===0){jQuery('.owl-prev').addClass('disabled')}else{jQuery('.owl-prev').removeClass('disabled')} if(currentItem===totalItems-1){jQuery('.owl-next').addClass('disabled')}else{jQuery('.owl-next').removeClass('disabled')}})}})})
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7r7HWrK6enZtjsLC5jp2mqKpdma60tIydqaKulad6uLTOZp2orZ6ZeqW7xqxkoaekYrCivoydnKybop6vpr%2BMoZyaqqSXv6atyqKloGWjmLKvsYxqb2lxZGuG