GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) – The Green Bay Police Department says that a woman has been arrested after her dog died from being locked inside a vehicle for hours outside of Lambeau Field on Thursday.
According to Lieutenant Tom Buchmann, with Green Bay PD, they discovered an unresponsive golden retriever inside the vehicle around 12:30 p.m.
“We do know that she was inside for more than three hours,” says Buchmann. “The windows were not cracked in this case, the windows were all the way rolled up and the car was locked.”
Police have also confirmed that the car was not running.
The dog was taken to an animal hospital where it was pronounced dead.
“Officers brought it to an animal hospital to have its core body temperature checked,” he explains. “The core body temperature was beyond the capabilities of the thermometer.”
A felony charge of mistreating an animal resulting in death is being recommended by police against the 55-year-old Lawrence woman.
Officers are reminding pet owners not to leave pets inside vehicles, even for a brief amount of time, when it’s hot outside.
“We do get several calls during the summertime about dogs being left in cars for ten minutes, fifteen minutes, half an hour,” says Buchmann. “That’s not uncommon.’
According to them, it’s better to just keep your pets at home.
“If [you’re] running errands or shopping in the summertime, leave [your] dogs at home, don’t bring them along,” he says. “Because the temperature can escalate rapidly.”
In the state of Wisconsin, it’s legal for a person to break a car window to save a pet that is locked in a hot car.
But, the pet must appear to be in some sort of immediate danger and the door must be locked.
Additionally, 911 must be called prior to breaking a window.
If you do break a window to get a pet out, it’s advised to leave as little damage as possible and wait for the officer to arrive on the scene.
