East Fort Myers-area man faces charges after young dog dies in closed, overheated SUV
For 90 minutes Sunday a young Doberman Pinscher was left in a closed SUV, heat building quickly to 130 degrees, raising the dog's core temp significantly and killing it.
The death of the year-old dog, its carcass later found dumped in the residence's trash, led to charges Wednesday against the owner, an east Fort Myers-area man.
Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno, at a brief media conference Wednesday afternoon, said that James Russell, 53, had left the dog, named Sinister, inside a vehicle at his Morse Plaza address off Palm Beach Boulevard while he ran errands.
The dog died inside the vehicle, which Marceno said happened on Sunday. He said the dog had a core temperature of more than 106 degrees when Sheriff's Office investigators found it and the temperature inside the SUV reached up to 130 degrees.
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A Doberman's normal body temperature is between 101 and 102.5 Fahrenheit.
"The windows were up, the engine was off," Marceno said. "Russell decided to run errands, and go about his day, while Sinister had no access to water, ventilation, or food."
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According to the ASPCA, on a mid-80-degree day, interior temperatures can climb over 100 degrees in only 10 minutes and can jump to 120 degrees in half an hour. The high temperature Sunday in Fort Myers was 88, according to weather records.
"Even in cooler weather, the inside of a car may be as much as 20 degrees hotter than the outdoors—easily reaching 90 degrees on a 70-degree day," information from the national animal protection organization said. "A shady parking spot, bowl of water or even an open window are insufficient measures to counteract the deadly effects of these temperatures."
The ASPCA urged anyone who sees a distressed animal in a vehicle to try to locate the owner, call 911 and stay nearby until help arrives.
Many states (including Florida) recognize the severity of this problem and have enacted laws that prohibit leaving an animal in a vehicle in dangerous conditions — including hot weather — or that legally protect people who rescue a distressed animal from a vehicle.
"It is very sad to have to read about yet another individual leaving their pet inside to die inside a sweltering car," said Brian Wierima, community relations coordinator for the Gulf Coast Humane Society. "These incidents are so easily preventable by simply either leaving your pet home inside a safe and cool home, or having a plan if you need to take them along with you so they are not forced to stay in a car, which is dangerous to do during this time of year."
Wierima said vehicle windows should never be left completely up, but during times of high temperatures, even keeping the windows down a safe width so the pet doesn't jump out, is still dangerous.
"Have a passenger stay with the pet in the car and air conditioning running, is a safe alternative, as well," he said. "But the best option is to keep your pet at home, safe and sound."
Sheriff's Office investigators found the dog's body dumped in a trash pile at Russell's house, Marceno said.
"It doesn't take a genius to understand that this is an inhumane and disgusting thing to do to an animal," he said.
Russell remained in the Lee County Jail on Wednesday afternoon with bond not yet set and facing charges of aggravated animal cruelty.
Connect with breaking news reporter Michael Braun: MichaelBraunNP (Facebook), @MichaelBraunNP (Twitter) or mbraun@news-press.com.
This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Fort Myers man facing charges after dog dies in closed car, body dumped
