Leaving the window down so a dog wouldn’t overheat seemed like the right thing to do. But in doing so, the owner now face cruelty charges, and worse, his dog could have died.
Pup accidentally hangs itself
After a dog was spotted hanging by his leash from the open window of a truck in a Walmart parking lot, Sergeant Jason Legleiter and Police Officer Wade Hammond from the Arkansas City Police Department in Kansas were alerted to the situation. Although the officers were quick to arrive on the scene, it appeared as if they might have been too late.
“The dog was hanging motionless and appeared to be deceased,” Sergeant Legleiter wrote on the Arkansas City Police Facebook page.
In an attempt to flee the vehicle, it seems as if the dog jumped out of the window and accidentally hung himself. Luckily, the officer was quick to think on his feet. Using his patrol duty knife, Sergeant Legleiter cut the dog down in an instant.
Unresponsive dog makes full recovery
Officer Hammond then moved in quickly to tend to the dog’s needs as he lay unresponsive on the ground. By removing the constricting collar and applying pressure intermittently to the dog’s side, the officer worked to help him breathe. After several minutes, the dog began to show signs of life and became responsive, standing on his own feet.
Thanks to quick thinking from Sergeant Legleiter and Officer Hammond, a tragic accident was averted. While the police are calling the incident an “accident,” this near-tragedy could have been avoided if only the dog had not been left unattended in the parked car.
Tethering a dog to the inside of a vehicle and rolling down the windows may appear to be a good solution for keeping a dog contained in a somewhat cooler vehicle, but it still places a dog in danger. Another similar incident involved a dog dying after being tethered in the bed of a truck and trying to jump out. If a dog must be tied in a vehicle or the bed of a truck, make sure the leash is not long enough for the dog to jump out.
Share and save a dog.
–Katherine Marko
