Boy Breaks Down in Tears After Leaving Puppy Inside Locked, Hot Car
Camera captures moment that a boy realizes he put his puppy in danger.
— -- An 11-year-old Oregon boy who left his dog inside a locked car on a hot day got the scare of his life -- and a local news crew happened to be there to capture the ordeal on camera.
Christian Holden, animal control officer in Multnomah County, Oregon, was patrolling on Wednesday morning when he got an emergency call reporting that a puppy was locked inside a hot car for more than 30 minutes, ABC affiliate KATU reported.
When he arrived on scene, he spotted a panting puppy sitting on the passenger seat of the car. With the car windows rolled up, Holden estimated that the temperature inside the car had reached triple digits, according to the report.
“It got up to 100 [degrees] pretty quickly,” Holden told KATU.
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Feeling the heat, the puppy, a schnoodle named “Bear,” was panting and trying to get under the seat to avoid the sunlight.
“The dog wasn’t super responsive to me so I felt, at this time, since it was getting pretty warm out there, it was best to get the dog out of the vehicle,” said Holden, who coincidentally was being followed by the KATU crew for a report on the dangers of hot cars.
Belatedly realizing that Bear could have died from the heat, the boy stood still in the gravity of his sorrow and regret, and started sobbing, which was caught on KATU's camera.
“I was really scared to tell them it was our car because I didn’t know if they were taking Bear back or not,” the boy said.
After the boy fetched his mother, she opened the car door and Holden took Bear out, KATU reported. Luckily, Bear was OK after a little air conditioning and water.
“Can you do me a favor?” Holden asked the boy. “Can you make sure it doesn’t happen again?”
The mother was not charged, but received a $100 citation, KATU reported.
Holden said although it could be 80 degrees outside, the temperature inside a car can skyrocket to 120 degrees within 20 minutes.