Dogs left in hot car resulting in death of one Sterling, CO (US) Incident Date: Saturday, Jul 9, 2005 County: Logan Local Map: available Disposition: Alleged Alleged: Jessica Salas

Case ID: 5141 Classification: Neglect / Abandonment Animal: dog (pit-bull) View more cases in CO (US) Login to Watch this Case

Jessica Salas, 20, and several other young adults planned a barbecue at the reservoir. She took along her two adopted puppies. They stopped at Wal-Mart intending only a 10-minute shopping errand, but they then decided to go camping at North Sterling. As a result, he said they stayed too long gathering supplies inside the air-conditioned store.

Outside the hot afternoon sun intensified in their car, the puppies waiting.

It is still not clear how long the puppies were left unattended, the Logan County Humane Society reported. A passerby eventually notified police who in turn summoned the society.

The humane society said a woman reported hearing puppies crying inside the car, and the woman asked Wal-Mart for help to find the dogs' owner. Twila Gockley, a society animal warden, arrived and enlisted help from the Good Samaritan.

Gockley reported opening the hot car, where the temperature hit an estimated 120 degrees. Gockley and the other unidentified woman saved one puppy that somehow fell out of the car's front-seat box onto the shaded floor. But the puppy's littermate was trapped in the sun and died, Gockley said.

Gockley signed a police ticket for the owner, summoning Salas to municipal court for two misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty. On Wednesday, the local court verified Salas' advisement hearing is set for Aug. 3.

"It's a tragedy," the father, Mile Bodner, said of the unfortunate events.

He portrayed his daughter as an animal lover who is still despondent about losing Peanut, a miniature pinscher and Chihuahua mix.

Bodner said his daughter has a learning disability, and he conceded that she should have known better than to leave her dogs in a hot car.

He said his daughter, whom he described as not very assertive, apparently agreed with the group to stay longer. He said he didn't know how long they were in the store.

"I am disappointed in her lack of good judgment," he said. "But I'm also disappointed in the lack of judgment of the four adults that accompanied her knowing she has these disabilities."

His daughter is still depressed, Bodner said. He described the puppies as unwanted runts shunned by their mother, and that his daughter rescued them. The surviving littermate was confiscated by the society, which intends to make it available for adoption.

He said his daughter had bottle-fed the two puppies and kept Peanut for her own. Salas planned to give away Peanut's sibling once it was old enough.

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