Man Charged With Cruelty For Leaving Dog In Closed Car

A city man was charged with cruelty to animals Tuesday morning after allegedly leaving his dog in a car parked at City Hall.

Police spokesman Sgt. Lee Young said officers were at City Hall on a call when one of them encountered the small, white and brown dog barking inside the car, which was parked in direct sunlight with the windows rolled up.

The officer used a smartphone app to determine the outside temperature was 85 degrees. Young said officers are trained that a car's interior temperature can be substantial higher than the outside temperature.

A passerby told the officer the dog had been in the car for about 10-15 minutes.

The dog's owner arrived and the officer advised him he should not have left the dog in his car. The man, Luis Chavez, said he didn't take his one-year-old shi tzu into the building because he barks in public.

Chavez, 36, of 17 Windward Rd., was issued a summons for cruelty to animals and given a court date of Aug. 3.

Cruelty to animals is punishable by a fine of up to $1,000 or imprisonment for up to one year or both.