Dog Left Six Days In car To Be Returned to Owner

After six days in a car, pup may be returned to sitter

Zipper, an adorable pug-beagle mix with his tongue lolling out, looks a little lean and behaves skittishly, after his six day ordeal locked in a car in a mall parking lot in Seattle, Washington. Officers responding to an abandoned vehicle discovered him. The car had been in the parking lot for six days according to officers.

According to reports, the sweet dog was found shaking and locked in the car without a source of food or water. His ribs were visible to the officers who rescued him. The officers provided the pup with food and water before calling the Seattle Animal Shelter.

When the car’s owner could not be found, the car was towed. It was soon discovered that the car had been sold to new owners. When Zipper’s owner was finally located, she stated that her boyfriend was responsible for Zipper while she was on an out of town trip.

Unable to determine exactly how long Zipper was left without food and water, Zipper may be returned to his sitter. It is up to prosecutors to determine if they believe animal neglect occurred and to pursue formal charges.

“The animal shelter has not yet been able to contact the dog’s owner, who is apparently out of state,” police spokesman Jonah Spagenthal-Lee said in a statement. “However, Seattle Animal Shelter staff have been in contact with the dogsitter, and plan to have a chat with them about how pets need to have water and food available at all times and shouldn’t be left alone in cars when the weather gets warm.”

In the meantime, the animal shelter staff plans to have a detailed discussion of dog care with Zipper’s sitter before releasing the pup.

Meanwhile, a dog belonging to a physical education teacher at Sittingbourne Community College In Kent in South East England died from heat after being left in its owner’s car for six hours, reports the Daily Mail.

The owner, Dave Carden, regularly brought his family-friendly Labrador to the campus where it provided support lessons for what are termed “lower-ability” students.

The five-year-old dark black haired Labrador was used three times a week over the past three years. Carden says he would drive his pet to school and leave it in the car where another faculty member would retrieve it shortly thereafter for the therapy treatments.

However, this past Tuesday a staff mix up left poor Ruby, as she was called, in the car from morning until mid-afternoon. By the time her master found her, she had succumbed to the heat inside the car.

On The Web:

Dog six days in car, could go back to owner
http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/national_world&id=9080732

Dog: Six Days in Car Without Food or Water
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/25476-dog-six-days-in-car-without-food-or-water/