Do not leave an animal in a car on a warm day!!!!!
My God...HOW MANY TIMES DO PEOPLE NEED TO HEAR THIS!? I am just sooooo disgusted!!!!!!!
Show dogs die in hot van in Missouri
By The Associated Press
ARNOLD, MO. — Seven high-priced show dogs, including one of the top Akitas in the country, are dead after being left by their handler for several hours in a hot van in Jefferson County.
Police say Mary Wild, 24, left the dogs in a cargo van early Monday and went to bed after returning from a dog show in Iowa.
“I’ve never seen such a horrific act in my lifetime,” said Dr. Laura Ivan, the veterinarian in House Springs whose office Wild brought the dogs to on Monday. Ivan is now caring for the lone surviving dog. “This was not intentional, but a horrible, tragic accident.”
The dogs likely died of heat stroke, Ivan said, although autopsies are pending.
Wild, who is paid to handle the dogs at shows, did not return repeated phone and e-mail messages from the Post-Dispatch requesting comment.
She told police that, after returning from her road trip about 1 a.m. Monday, she started to transfer the dogs into the garage of a home on Kroeck Drive in Arnold. But it was so hot she instead decided to leave them in their portable kennels in the van.
She told police she put six electric fans in the van to keep the dogs cool. She also left a door open to the van and the van’s windows partly open, said Capt. Ralph Brown of the Jefferson County sheriff’s office. The van was apparently parked in the driveway, Brown said.
She told police that, three hours later, she went outside to check on the dogs. They were fine, she said. Then, about 6:30 a.m., all eight dogs were in distress. She found five of the dogs breathing, but not responsive. The other three were clearly in distress, but could at least raise their heads.
She tried reviving the dogs, by hosing them down, then took them to Ivan’s office.
Monica Colvin of Lebanon, Ill., owner of the Akita, was still shaken Wednesday when she recounted how she learned about the death of her dog, Jersey. She was traveling to California and got a phone call late Monday afternoon from Wild.
“She did not give me the full story,” Colvin said. “She said she (Jersey) got hot and she’ll be okay.”
The next day, Jersey died. And only Wednesday did Colvin find out about the other dogs’ deaths.
“She should’ve gotten those dogs into a cool location, in her kitchen, her own bedroom, I don’t care where,” Colvin said.
In the first six months of this year, Jersey had won enough points at dog shows sanctioned by the American Kennel Club to be considered the top-ranked female Akita and the fourth-ranked Akita in the country, her owner said. Such purebred dogs are worth thousands, possibly tens of thousands of dollars, Ivan said.
Jefferson County Sheriff Glenn Boyer’s office and the county’s animal control division are investigating. Their report will be turned over to the county prosecutor.
Brown said Wild is a reputable dog handler. “This is a very sad case,” Brown said. “The lady probably thought, in her mind, heck it’s hot in the garage, and some of the dogs were probably already asleep.”
Brown cautioned others with dogs: “Take every precaution during this high heat and humidity. If at all possible, take them inside.”
James Taylor, the county’s animal control manager, said his investigation should be completed this week. The other dogs included three golden retrievers, a dalmatian and a Siberian husky.
