Trending

Oregon officer rescues dog from 116-degree hot car; owner was shopping at mall for hours, police say

EUGENE, Ore. — An Oregon police department is reminding residents not to leave pets alone in a vehicle after an officer rescued a husky from a 116-degree hot car over the weekend.

According to KVAL, the incident occurred about 2 p.m. Sunday outside the Valley River Center mall in Eugene. An animal welfare officer responded to a report of a dog inside a hot car and arrived to find a husky “trying to seek shade from the sun curled on the floorboard of the driver seat,” Eugene police said in a Facebook post. The windows of the car, a Toyota Prius, were closed, authorities said.

As a group of bystanders watched, the officer tried multiple times to unlock the car without damaging it but was unsuccessful, according to the Facebook post.

“After the [officer] measured the internal temperature of the vehicle at 116 degrees Fahrenheit, he forced entry into the vehicle and safely got the dog out of the car and provided water in the shade,” the post read.

Husky rescued from hot car a reminder summer is not over On September 20 at around 2 p.m., Valley River Center security...

Posted by Eugene Police Department on Monday, September 21, 2020

Police said the dog’s owner, Katherine Rose Ornedo Golez, 29, of Woodland Hills, California, had left the dog in the car for about three hours while she and a friend shopped inside the mall. She received a citation for second-degree animal neglect, the department said.

“Eugene Animal Services is urging people to not leave their pets unattended inside a vehicle, even for a just few minutes,” the Facebook post read. “Temperatures inside a vehicle can rise quickly, easily causing an animal to experience heat stroke or brain damage, even with windows slightly open and the vehicle parked under shade. It is important to note animals do not have to experience distress or heat stroke for a person to be cited for animal neglect.”

Outdoor temperatures in Eugene reached 74 degrees on Sunday, officials said.

Read more here or here.

Listen

news

weather

traffic

mobile apps

Everything you love about wsbradio.com and more! Tap on any of the buttons below to download our app.

amazon alexa

Enable our Skill today to listen live at home on your Alexa Devices!