SARASOTA, Fla. (WFLA) – Police in Sarasota, Florida are reminding pet owners to not leave their four-legged friends in hot cars after officers had to smash a window to save a dog this week.
Police say they were called to University Parkway this week about a dog locked inside a car that was turned off. Body camera footage released by the Sarasota Police Department shows responding officers checking on the dog through the car window.
“The dog is panting and drooling all over the place,” one officer told a member of the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office Animal Services, who also responded to the scene.
“He’s starting to go down, that’s not good,” animal services said. “He’s starting to go down.”
In the body camera video, the officer explained to animal services the dog was a pit bull and they weren’t sure how it would respond to being let out after being stuck in the hot car. The officer also noted that they had tried to figure out who the car belonged to but didn’t have any luck.
The video then captures an officer smashing a rear window of the car to at least provide some air to the dog. Animal services got the dog out of the car shortly after.
The temperature inside the car was 115 degrees, and animal services said that was with the door already open.
The dog owner was later located. Police said in a Facebook post that he claimed he left the car running.
“Always remember to look before you lock for pets, children and elderly loved ones,” the police department wrote.
Animal services issued the dog’s owner two citations.