In Wake Of Second Dog’s Death In Hot Car, PETA Calls On Middletown Man To Be Banned From Owning Animals

MIDDLETOWN, CT — In the aftermath of a Middletown man being accused for a second time of leaving a dog in a hot car that resulted in the dog’s death, PETA is calling on authorities to ban the man from owning animals in the future. On Wednesday afternoon, PETA sent a letter to the Middlesex Judicial District state's attorney requesting that Middletown resident David Beveridge, 79, who was arrested last week after his dog died while in a hot car when temperatures soared into the mid-90s, be banned from owning or harboring animals in the future. PETA officials said that “dying of heatstroke is agonizing and involves panic, heavy panting, lethargy, loss of coordination, vomiting, internal hemorrhage, and brain damage.”

Beveridge told police he intended to bring Jennie, a 3-year-old Labradoodle, to doggy day care on July 18 but he went straight to work, according to the Hartford Courant. He brought the dog to a local veterinarian, who was upset because it wasn't the first time this had happened, according to police. Beveridge's other dog Charlie, a 4-year-old poodle mix died after he left it in his car in May 2014, according to NBC Connecticut.

Beveridge, a professor emeritus of chemistry at Wesleyan University, was arrested on a charge of cruelty to animals. He was released on a promise to appear in court on Aug. 21, according to state judicial records. (To sign up for Middletown breaking news alerts and more, click here.)

“It's essential that animal guardians never leave dogs alone in a parked car, where temperatures can soar and they can die of heatstroke within minutes,” PETA Senior Vice President of Cruelty Investigations Daphna Nachminovitch said in a statement. “If David Beveridge is convicted, PETA is calling on authorities to ensure that he doesn't have another chance to close the car door on a dog and walk away.”

In its letter, PETA — whose motto reads, in part, that "animals are not ours to abuse in any way" — writes, "Beveridge has demonstrated a stark unwillingness or inability to meet the basic duties of animal custodianship and should be prohibited from owning or harboring animals if convicted."

Read PETA’s full letter to State's Attorney Peter A. McShane below:

July 26, 2017

The Honorable Peter A. McShane

State's Attorney, Middlesex Judicial District

Dear Mr. McShane,

Greetings from PETA. This letter concerns a case that your office is handling involving David Beveridge of Middletown, who is reportedly facing charges stemming from the July 18 death of his dog, Jennie. According to news sources, Beveridge informed investigating authorities that he'd intended to drop Jennie off at doggy daycare earlier in the day but had forgotten to do so and remembered only hours later that she was still in his car, which he'd driven to work and parked. The temperatures that day reportedly climbed into the 90s, and Jennie apparently succumbed to heatstroke—an agonizing ordeal involving intense panic, heavy panting, lethargy, loss of coordination, vomiting, internal hemorrhaging, and brain damage. Alarmingly, police reportedly discovered that Beveridge had allowed another dog, Charlie, to die in the same manner several years prior.

If these allegations are accurate—particularly with regard to an earlier such occurrence—Beveridge has demonstrated a stark unwillingness or inability to meet the basic duties of animal custodianship and should be prohibited from owning or harboring animals if convicted (a common provision in such cases). Please know that we stand ready to secure experts to testify if needed.

On behalf of our tens of thousands of members in Connecticut, we thank you for your time and consideration as well as for the difficult work that you do.

Sincerely,

Allison Fandl

Special Projects Manager

Cruelty Investigations Department

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