Crime

Dedham dog owner fined for leaving pet in hot car for over 45 minutes

The owner was shopping at Costco while the dog sat in the car.

A dog was left alone in a car in a Costco parking lot in Dedham for over 45 minutes on Wednesday. Dedham Police Department.

By Susannah Sudborough

August 18, 2022

A Dedham dog owner was fined by police Wednesday afternoon after they left their dog alone in their car for at least 45 minutes while they went shopping, The Boston Globe reported.

Police responded to reports of a dog left in a car in the Costco parking lot at 200 Legacy Blvd. around 4 p.m., the Globe reported. The dog was a female, 1-year-old Yorkshire terrier poodle mix.

Dedham police wrote on Facebook that all four windows were rolled up when the responding officer found the dog in the car, and that the dog was leashed, so it had tangled itself around a seatbelt, the driver’s seat, and the emergency brake. When the officer found the dog, it had about six inches of mobility.

Local

“It was already getting warm in the car and had the dog started to panic and flail trying to free herself from entanglement, things could have escalated very quickly and very tragically,” police wrote.

Police told the Globe that the responding officer tried to contact the owner by using the public announcement system at Costco, but that employees were unable to use it. The officer then waited for the owner to return, ready to free the dog if need be.

The owner returned, but only after 45 minutes had passed, the Globe reported. The owner was fined $150, as it was their first offense, and was educated about the dangers of leaving a dog alone in a hot car.

Dedham police advised the public to report any incident in which a dog, child, or elderly person is left unattended in a car to police.

“Here in Dedham, the safety of our community — human and animal — is top priority, police wrote.