Dog locked in hot car Xenia, OH (US) Incident Date: Tuesday, Sep 4, 2007 County: Greene Local Map: available Disposition: Alleged Charges: Misdemeanor Alleged: Robert J. King

Case ID: 12264 Classification: Neglect / Abandonment Animal: dog (non pit-bull) View more cases in OH (US) Login to Watch this Case

A portly 11-year-old beagle named Barbie was rescued, but four vehicles were damaged after a strange series of events Tuesday afternoon. It began with a Spring Valley couple's decision to leave their dog in a hot minivan parked in the handicapped section of the Kroger parking lot.

Animal Control Officer John Grice was dispatched around 3 p.m. to investigate the report of a dog left inside a minivan parked near the Kroger entrance, officials said. Grice found the van and parked in the lane nearby.

After unsuccessfully paging the minivan's driver in Kroger, Grice and a Xenia police officer freed the beagle and were standing close to the van when an elderly male driver plowed his car into the Greene County Animal Control truck.

The truck was flipped onto its side, and several witnesses said the man kept his foot on the gas, pushing the truck into another parked car and then a few more yards into a parked pick-up truck.

"The dog got loose in the melee, but we recaptured it and took it to Animal Control for safe keeping," said Grice, adding that the beagle was panting and showed signs of heat stress.

None of the parked vehicles were occupied by people or animals, and the driver who crashed into the truck appeared to be unharmed. Xenia police questioned him at the scene and were investigating what caused the crash.

More than an hour after Grice arrived at the minivan, its driver Robert J. King, 84, of Spring Valley, exited Kroger and was questioned by police and animal control officers.

King told them he and his wife had left their 11-year-old beagle Barbie in the minivan after having run the air conditioner for about 30 minutes to get it cold.

King was cited for cruelty and neglect toward a companion animal, a first-degree misdemeanor, and told to appear in Xenia Municipal Court on Sept. 17. King got his dog back after paying a $21 impound fee, officials said.

"This looks like something where they needed to be reminded of what can happen, and it probably won't happen again," said Assistant Director Danny Reynolds of Greene County Animal Control.

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References

Xenia Gazette - Sept 5, 2007

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