Dog locked in hot car
Ashland, OR (US)Incident Date: Wednesday, Jul 29, 2009
County: Jackson
Disposition: Alleged
Alleged: Christopher Shaffer
Sadie's brown eyes had begun to glaze over and -- except for her panting tongue -- she had stopped moving in the hot car parked on East Main Street by about 3 p.m. on Wednesday. Her body draped over itself on the floor, where she was trying to find a sliver of shade between the front and back seats of the pickup truck.
Outside it was over 100 degrees.
Inside the navy blue car -- where the large, mixed-breed dog had been for about an hour, without water -- it was much hotter, even with the windows cracked.
"It's hotter than hell in that car," said Kip Keeton, a community service officer with the Ashland Police Department, as the downtown substation called in a superior officer who was authorized to get the dog out of the car.
Just as police were preparing to break one of the truck's windows, the owner showed up.
Portland resident Christopher Shaffer, 28, was arrested for animal neglect in the second degree, because he "knowingly and recklessly failed to provide minimum care for an animal in his care," said Lt. Corey Falls with the Ashland Police Department.
Shaffer's dog appeared to be unharmed in Wednesday's incident. Once freed, it lapped up water and rested on the sidewalk with Shaffer's girlfriend.
A passerby had noticed the dog trapped inside the car shortly after 2 p.m. and alerted police at the substation, located steps away from where the car was parked.
After checking neighboring businesses and searching driving records to try to find the car's owner, officers were gearing up to free the dog themselves.
Meanwhile, Shaffer and his girlfriend, who refused to give her name, were grabbing a bite to eat at Standing Stone Brewing Co., the girlfriend said. They had stopped in Ashland on their way back to Portland, after spending time camping near Mount Shasta, she said.
"Restaurants and places, they don't let dogs in and we've been driving for hours and hours," she said, as police talked to Shaffer in the substation.
The couple had asked restaurant workers if they could bring their dog in to eat, but dogs weren't allowed, so they left Sadie in the car, she said.
"We feel bad, but we're not bad people," she said. "We just can't bring her anywhere." References« OR State Animal Cruelty Map
« More cases in Jackson County, OR
|
