Woman Discovers Two Dogs in Hot Car, Their Mouths and Legs Wrapped in Shipping Tape

A St. Louis, Missouri woman heard barking coming from a parked car. When she went for a closer look, she was horrified to find two dogs with their muzzles, their legs, necks, and bodies wrapped in shipping tape, left in the hot car for 45-minutes while their owner worked out inside a nearby gym.

Rachele Bishop was outside a St. Louis, Missouri Planet Fitness when she heard barking coming from a parked car. She immediately called the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, which dispatched firefighters because their officers were busy.

When they arrived, firefighters found the sunroof of the car open, with two dogs inside that they described as “wrapped up in plastic.” One dog was stuck underneath a stroller and blanket, the other was “taped up from its neck to its hind end” and was placed beneath the front seat. 

Temperatures in St. Louis have been averaging in the high 80’s—far too hot for a dog left in a parked car, even for just a few minutes. Bishop said 45-minutes had passed since she first heard the barking until the dogs’ owner finally completed her workout and returned to the car.

Bishop began recording video on her cellphone and shared the disturbing footage to Facebook. In the video, the woman is seen removing the clear shipping tape from around her dog’s legs and neck before angrily tossing the dog into the passenger seat.

Perhaps most disheartening of all—animal control officers investigated the incident and determined that no crime was committed.

According to Bishop’s statement to 911, the dogs’ owner claimed the animals were taped up to keep them from barking and because they will chew on themselves. Bishop said when the Animal Control supervisor arrived, he talked to the woman and let her leave with the animals. 

KSDK spoke to Melanie Wade, a local groomer and dog rescuer, who was horrified by the incident. “They were taped. Their front legs taped down to their body. Their back taped together. Their back legs taped to them. The muzzle taped on one dog, the other dog had a muzzle on under the front seat of her car,” she said.

“It’s a crime and if you don’t think it is, let somebody duct-tape you, your face, your legs and your hands and stuff you under the seat of a car for 45 minutes in the St. Louis heat in the summer,” Wade continued.

Neither the St. Louis Fire Department nor animal control have not responded to requests for comment.