Fort Lauderdale Police are investigating a report of a felony animal neglect after a witness said he saw two puppies that were left in a car die from heat exhaustion.
A witness who didn’t want to be identified said he saw something disturbing in a parking lot this past Sunday night, around 7:30 p.m.
“There were two puppies that had passed away from heat exhaustion and two adults dogs as well kept in the trunk of a Mercedes,” said the witness, who lives in Fort Lauderdale. "The dogs were killed from leaving them inside the car with the windows up and the engine off."
The witness said he noticed a man trying to revive two French bulldog puppies in the parking lot of the Quantum apartment complex near Northeast 7th Street in Flagler Village in Fort Lauderdale. He said the two adult dogs were okay, but it appeared that both puppies had died.
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"He claimed that he felt that the dogs would have died from carbon monoxide poisoning if the windows were up and the car was on since it was in a garage," the witness said. "Unfortunately the owner claims to be a breeder and he is responsible for many other dogs, which is terrifying."
The witness said he then called police to file a report and three detectives came out to the scene, but the man who claimed to be a breeder had already left with his friend.
“Hopefully the police can do their due diligence and investigate and understand the situation. Whether it was malice as their intent or a pure accident, but hopefully the police are able to do their work,” said the witness.
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He also wanted to remind pet owners about the dangers of hot cars.
"I just can’t stress the importance of keeping the windows down for a short period of time if you’re leaving a dog," the witness said. "Definitely keep the AC on if you’re not able to run your car while you go and run errands. Don’t run the errands or bring the dogs with you. That two extra minutes that it may take you to check out at a register could be the difference between life and death for these animals."
According to a spokesperson from Fort Lauderdale Police, the person who reported the incident was able to provide them with information regarding vehicles and drivers that were possibly involved. They are following up on this information as a part of their investigation and encourage anyone who witnessed this incident to contact police to make sure they have all of the available information.
