GRANDVILLE, Mich. (WOOD) - A Chihuahua died after its owner left it in a hot car at RiverTown Crossings Mall on Sunday, police say.
Customers first spotted the dog in the car around 2 p.m. near Macy's, mall security told 24 Hour News 8.
The Grandville Fire Department was called at around 4:45 p.m. and responded to the scene. Firefighters got the dog out of the car and say the animal was alive but its condition was deteriorating. So they put water in a syringe and tried getting the dog to drink.
But it died soon thereafter in the mall parking lot.
Although the car's windows were cracked, it was too hot inside for the dog to survive. Police say the outside temperature was around 78 degrees at the time. Inside the car, animal control officers estimate the temperature soared to somewhere between 98 and 100 degrees.
"I just can't express enough caring for the children and animals that have to put up with, sometimes, our stupidity," said fire chief Harvey Veldhouse, of the Grandville Fire Department. "(Imagine) a 15 minute time frame, 20 minute time frame, in the heat of a parking lot with black asphalt with the sun bearing down on you. Try it yourself. Jump into your own vehicle. And leave the windows all up. You know what it's like."
A dog's build - meant to protect the animal in the cold winter months - is what makes it more susceptible to heat in the summer, veterinarian Richard Siegel said.
"Dogs only perspire through their mouth and through their feet and so their mechanism of cooling is somewhat handicapped," he said.
"People underestimate how rapidly (overheating) can occur."
Firefighters assisted police to help get the dog out of the car because they were unable to find the animal's owner. Police will not release the owner's name.
The pet's owner could face charges, including animals abandoning/cruelty resulting in animal's death, which is a one-year misdemeanor -- a $2,000 fine and/or up to 300 hours of community service. The decision is up to the county prosecutor.
Veldhouse said his department was called to RiverTown Crossings between five and eight times last year for similar complaints.
"Since the mall moved in to Grandville, we're seeing a number of cases on that that we wouldn't have seen in the past," he said. "We see pets. We see kids that are left in the car for just a minute."
