Puppy locked in hot car - Ottawa, ON

Thursday, May 31, 2007

A Peterborough woman faces two counts of animal cruelty after her dog was locked in a steaming hot car at a Carleton University parking lot in June.

Kumari Karunaratne, 31, is charged with failing to provide suitable and adequate care to an animal and for causing unnecessary pain, suffering and injury to the female Husky-type puppy in her care.

Ottawa Humane Society agents received a call from Carleton University security staff who noticed the dog locked inside the car as sweltering temperatures reached 35 C with the humidex.

After noticing the dog was unresponsive, university security staff removed the animal from Karunaratne's vehicle and placed it in an air-conditioned security vehicle until Humane Society agents arrived.

The temperature inside the car had reached a mercury-popping 46 C by the time Karunaratne returned after a 2O-hour absence.

She was served notice of the charges and her name was added to a registry of dog-in-car offenders at the Humane Society.

"It's clear to us, the outcome for this dog would have been very different had it remained in the car any longer," inspector Tim Brown of the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals said in a statement.

Karunaratne is scheduled to appear in court Nov. 6.

References

• Ottawa Sun - Oct 6, 2007

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