Kansas City Police Department Nets PETA Award for Saving Dog From Hot Car

Officers Free Puppy Suffering From Heatstroke in Sweltering Weather

For Immediate Release:
July 28, 2015

Contact:
Moira Colley 202-483-7382

A Compassionate Police Department Award is on its way to the Kansas City Police Department for its quick rescue of a Chihuahua puppy who was left to languish inside a hot car for nearly two hours at a Liberty strip mall. As temperatures outside the car soared to 93 degrees, officers broke a window to free the dog, who veterinary hospital workers later determined had heatstroke and was in critical condition. He is now recovering in foster care and will be put up for adoption. His guardian was cited for cruelty to animals.

“The quick actions of the Kansas City Police Department spared this little dog an agonizing death,” says PETA Senior Director Colleen O’Brien. “Every summer, many more dogs die horrific, preventable deaths in hot cars, and that’s why PETA calls on bystanders to act quickly when a dog is left inside a car during hot months—even if the windows are cracked.”

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way”—joins the Kansas City Police Department in reminding all dog guardians never to leave any animal inside a parked car. On a 78-degree day, the temperature inside a parked car can soar to between 100 and 120 degrees in just minutes, and on a 90-degree day, the interior temperature can reach as high as 160 degrees in less than 10 minutes.

The Kansas City Police Department will receive a framed certificate and a box of delicious vegan cookies. For more information, please visit PETA.org.