The Edmonton Police Service arrested an individual after they left a dog in their vehicle unattended for over 40 minutes while temperatures reached over 35 degrees.
Police received complaints on Wednesday afternoon about a dog that was left unattended in a hot vehicle in the parking lot of West Edmonton Mall.
When police arrived on scene they were able to break the window of the vehicle where the dog was and took the animal into custody. The owner of the dog arrived back at their vehicle 45 minutes after police rescued the animal. Upon arrival, police arrested and charged the individual with Causing Unnecessary Suffering to an Animal.
In a tweet to X, formely Twitter the Edmonton Police Service stated leaving pets in vehicles when temperatures reach a certain temperature is unsafe for any animal.
The Edmonton Police Service would like to remind the public that leaving children and pets in unattended vehicles is unsafe during extreme heat. On a warm day, even vehicles parked in the shade with the windows rolled down can reach a staggering 49 degrees in minutes. If you see a child or pet in distress, call 911 immediately.
The City of Edmonton sent out a public service announcement not long after news broke about the individual who left their dog in a vehicle and urged Edmontonians to practice heat safety for pets.
In the release The City of Edmonton stated dogs are vulnerable to excessive heat and dogs left in vehicles cannot cool themselves as efficiently as humans making them particularly susceptible to heatstroke and sunburn and the inside of a car can become dangeriously hot in minutes.
Leaving an animal in a hot car and causing it to be in distress may result in fines or charges under the Animal Protection Act and the Criminal Code of Canada.
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