Dog left in hot car, resulting in death Tampa, FL (US) Incident Date: Sunday, Nov 6, 2005 County: Hillsborough Local Map: available Disposition: Alleged Alleged: Jose Matos

Case ID: 5950 Classification: Neglect / Abandonment Animal: dog (non pit-bull) View more cases in FL (US) Login to Watch this Case

A New Jersey sex offender who recently moved to Tampa now stands accused of leaving his Jack Russell terrier inside a hot car for so long, the dog later died.

Lil Mamma, estimated to be between 2 and 3 years old, died on the morning of Nov 7 of apparent heatstroke, investigators said. The day before, owner Jose Matos, 50, of 2909 E Lake Ave., was charged with one count of animal cruelty.

According to Florida records, he registered in FL in Oct 2005 as a sex offender. He was convicted of a sexual assault in New Jersey, although further details of the case were not available.

Hillsborough County Animal Services investigators say a deputy on bicycle patrol at University Mall at 2 p.m. Sunday noticed the terrier inside a gray four-door sedan parked in front of Ruby Tuesday. The windows were cracked open only a few inches, according to investigators.

The dog was yelping and acting "erratically," according to animal services officials. When the deputy came back minutes later to check on the dog, she appeared even more distressed.

The deputy removed the dog from the vehicle, and Animal Services took her to Florida Veterinary Specialists of Tampa for emergency treatment of convulsions and heatstroke.

"She had the classic signs of heat stroke," Animal Services spokeswoman Marti Ryan said. "She was having seizures upon arrival. She was given IVs and fluids, but it was too late."

Neighborhood Map

For more information about the Interactive Animal Cruelty Maps, see the map notes.

Back to Top

Add this case to:

Del.icio.us

|

Digg

|

Furl

|

References

St Petersburg Times - Nov 8, 2005

« FL State Animal Cruelty Map

Not sure what these icons mean? Click here.

Note: Classifications and other fields should not be used to determine what specific charges the suspect is facing or was convicted of - they are for research and statistical purposes only. The case report and subsequent updates outline the specific charges. Charges referenced in the original case report may be modified throughout the course of the investigation or trial, so case updates, when available, should always be considered the most accurate reflection of charges.

For more information regarding classifications and usage of this database, please visit the database notes and disclaimer.