Woman arrested at The Ridge for leaving dog in hot car

Heather Crosby (Rochester Police photo)

ROCHESTER - Around 1:30 p.m. on Monday, with the temperature a stifling 85 degrees under a blistering July sun, Rochester dispatchers got a frantic call from a Good Samaritan in the parking lot near Hobby Lobby at The Ridge Marketplace.

It seems there was a dog in a Toyota Yaris with Maine plates with the windows open only a crack. The dog was panting heavily, the Good Samaritan said.

Dispatchers quickly notified Maine State Police, got the owner's name and contacted her but learned she was out of state and not the driver.

Police then quickly responded to Hobby Lobby where managers paged over the store intercom for the owner of a black Toyota Yaris. They did likewise at Marshalls, the Paper Store, Famous Footwear and Market Basket.

A responding officer found that the pooch was getting more and more distressed and saw that one of the windows was down just far enough for them to reach in and unlock the vehicle.

After the dog was outside and given water, it drank nearly two cups and slowly began to recover from being overheated.

Rochester's animal control officer arrived and said the dog had a classic case of overheating inside a hot car.

The dog's owner, Heather Crosby, 20, of 162 Twombly Road, Sanford, told police she hadn't expected to be away from her dog for more than 10 minutes, but it ended up being an hour.

However, PETA, an animal advocacy group, reports that on a 78-degree day, the temperature inside a parked car can soar to 100 in just minutes, and on a 90-degree day, the interior temperature can reach as high as 109 degrees in less than 10 minutes. Monday's high was 85.

PETA also states animals can sustain brain damage or even die from heatstroke in just 15 minutes, because they can only cool themselves by panting and by sweating through their paw pads.

They suggest that if anyone see a dog left alone in a hot car, take down the car's color, model, make, and license plate number and have the owner paged in the nearest buildings, or call local humane authorities or police.

But they stress to have someone keep an eye on the dog and not leave the scene until the situation has been resolved.

They further urge that if authorities are unresponsive or too slow and the dog's life appears to be in imminent danger, find a witness (or several) who will back up your assessment and take steps to remove the suffering animal from the car, and then wait for authorities to arrive.

Rochester Police Capt. Jason Thomas, however noted that safety officials, other first responders or security guards are the only ones authorized to break into a hot car to save an animal, so that a Good Samaritan doing it themselves could suffer some liability issues in such an event.

After a similar Sanford incident earlier this summer, Sanford Police Deputy Chief Tim Strout said much the same thing, that the public should be leery of taking it upon themselves to break into a vehicle under similar circumstances.

Thomas took the opportunity to urge the public to not leave your dog unattended in a motor vehicle, even if you think you'll just be gone a minute or two, especially during this time of year.

Crosby, meanwhile, was arrested on a charge of animals in a motor vehicle, a Class B misdemeanor that can carry up to a $1,200 fine and loss of license.

She was bailed on personal recognizance pending a later arraignment.