SCRAPS officer breaks window to rescue dog | Crime

If it wasn't for the quick thinking of a SCRAPS officer, a dog would have died from being trapped in a hot car.

According to the Spokane County Regional Animal Protection Service (SCRAPS), they recieved a call that a dog was left inside a Ford Explorer in the parking lot of the Spokane Valley Mall Wednesday afternoon.

When protection officer Francie Rapier arrived, she found a basset hound locked inside the SUV with the four windows lowered about an inch.

Although it was only 80 degrees outside, Rapier discovered the temperature inside the vehicle had climbed to about 97 degrees. She also saw the dog was panting heavily.

Rapier said she called the fire department, but neither she nor fire crews could get one of the doors unlocked to set the dog free. That's when Rapier said she decided to break the driver's window to free the dog.

When the dog was released, Rapier said the temperature was 114 degrees inside the SUV.

The dog's owner, Justin D. Dalton was charged with unsafe confinement and animal cruelty in the second degree. Dalton said he was as the mall to watch a movie with his son.

SCRAPS said animal cruelty in the second degree is a gross misdemeanor that is punishable up to 365 days in jail or a $5,000 fine. Unsafe confinement is a misdemeanor punishable by up to 90 days in jail and/or a $1,000 fine.