Dog dies in car after Texas owner arrested in connection with DWI
A 7-year-old Siberian husky, like the one pictures here, died Sunday in a car after Round Rock police arrested the owner on suspicion of driving while intoxicated.
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Round Rock police are calling the death of a 7-year-old Siberian husky left in a vehicle with no air conditioning “an unfortunate incident” after officers arrested the owner. The Round Rock Police Department said officers found the dog, named Landa, dead in the vehicle while they were waiting for animal control to arrive, Austin station KVUE reports.
Police responded to a report of a reckless driver in the 100 block of University Oaks Boulevard around noon on Sunday, August 7, and RRPD told KVUE that officers left the car running while they arrested the driver and Landa’s owner in connection with driving while intoxicated. Police say that the car’s engine and air conditioning turned off without them knowing.
“This was an unfortunate incident and we are trying to determine how this happened,” RRPD told KVUE. “We are looking into this case to determine what happened and how the car’s engine turned off. The preliminary investigation has determined the officers did not turn off the vehicle.”
Landa was left in the vehicle for more than an hour after they began their DWI investigation. A KVUE meteorologist said temperatures reached 97 degrees around noon on Sunday and that the car could have reached 130 degrees.
The brother of the owner that was arrested, who wanted to be referred to as Benjamin, told KVUE that he wanted to know why officers didn’t let his sister, the woman arrested, unlock her phone so they could call family to pick up the dog. RRPD says protocol says that police have to call animal control if family is not in the vehicle.
