On the surface - Jeff Kearns seems to be the injured party - "Rescue" poor Vixen and he gets prosecuted...

But PETA didn't print ALL the details of this case ~
There is more to the story than PETA put on their web site (reference: PETA's "Pittsburgh Hero..." story

This line in the PETA story caught my attention:
"... When asked why he didn’t immediately volunteer to return the dog to the owner, Kearns acknowledges that he should have..."

PETA's story left out some details contained in the First of the TWO stories posted on the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review:

First Tribune-Review story, dated August 16, 2002:
"Hot car prompts dog 'rescue'

Second Tribune-Review story, dated August 25, 2002:
"Dog rescuer now facing charges"

According to the second article; the only way Vixen was returned to the owner was that the 'rescuer' (Kearns)"...was turned in to police by a friend who collected the $1,000 reward the city had posted for the dog's return." Nice 'friends' he has!

The dog 'rescue' was a possibly nobel act;
Deciding to not return the dog is probably being considered a criminal act.

I'm not taking 'sides' on this one...
There are two versions of whether Vixen was behind sealed or cracked windows; and if there was / was not water in the car available for the dog.

Be interesting to see how this case winds up...