WOMAN SAID TO HAVE LEFT DOG IN HOT CAR CHARGED WITH ABUSE

A Cape Girardeau woman was charged with animal abuse Thursday for leaving her dog in a car with an interior temperature of 145 degrees, police said.

"Three of the four windows were rolled up, and the fourth was rolled down so there was a crack of two or three inches," said Aaron Baughn, health officer for the police department.

Although the temperature outside the car, parked at the 1400 block of Lexington Avenue, was 62 degrees, a thermometer placed inside the car by Baughn about 11 a.m. showed a drastic difference.

This was not the first time Baughn had seen the dog, he said. On April 7, Baughn had responded to a complaint about a dog locked in the car.

"The dog was basically housed inside the vehicle," he said.

The temperature inside the car last Friday showed only 75 degrees, so Baughn spoke to the dog's owner, Katreen M. Scott, 18, and informed her that this was a potentially dangerous situation and advised her that charges could be filed if he returned and the inside of the car was hot.

Baughn was driving by the area Thursday morning and decided to check on the mixed-breed dog, he said. Besides closed windows, the dog was panting heavily and had no access to water.

"Dogs don't sweat," he said. "So they don't release heat as well as we do."

The dog was removed from the vehicle and impounded, Baughn said.

A number of factors influence the danger animals face in a car, including their breed, the color of the car and where it is parked, Baughn said.