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On Sunday, June 5th, police were called to a Glendale, Arizona apartment building to conduct an animal welfare check after residents saw what appeared to be a distressed dog trapped on the balcony of the third-floor apartment.
The dog, a 1-year old Labrador mix, had been left on the balcony by his owner, 28-year-old Adrian Gonzalez, without shade or water while temperatures outside reached record highs of 113-degrees.
Neighbors told police they heard whimpering and saw the puppy walking around strangely, as if his paws were burned. Because the owner was not home when police arrived, they could not access the third-floor balcony and called in a fire truck and ladder to access the distressed dog.
By the time police reached the puppy, he was dead.
An emergency animal medical technician with the Arizona Humane Society arrived on the scene and tried to take the dog’s temperature, but it was unreadable. Thermometers max out at 111.1 degrees, according to AHS public relations manager Bretta Nelson.
Adrain Gonzalez was arrested Thursday on felony animal abuse charges.
As the summer heat sets in, Glendale Police Department has the following pet recommendations:
Keep pets indoors.
- Give pets access to cool water at all times, whether indoors or out.
- Do not tether your pet. If they get tangled up, it will be difficult for them to access shade or water.
- Neverleave your pet in a parked car. On a hot summer day, a car’s interior temperature can reach 200 degrees in just minutes. If you see a pet in a hot car, call 911, notify the business/security and stay with the vehicle.
- If you see a pet in distress, immediately contact local authorities. Cruelty to animals is a punishable offense in all 50 states.
