plan to file animal cruelty charges against a man who was caring for his brother's two-year-old American Bulldog, when it died of heat stroke Tuesday.
Police were called to a home in after Patrick Ryan II, 29, of West View, was seen placing the dog inside a car parked outside.
“We had gotten a call from at 1498 Center Avenue, telling us that the dog was in very bad shape,” said Kathy Hecker, Animal Friends Humane Officer.
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Jesse Sprague told WTAE-TV’s Bob Mayo that he was horrified when he saw the dog, the same breed as his own, clearly overcome by the heat.
“I come out and look and the thing was dying. I mean, right here. You could tell it was fighting for its life,” Sprague told WTAE.
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Sprague said he gave the dog water, while others called 911.
“I poured water all over it to try to cool it down, but you could tell it was dying,” said Sprague.
Sprague said he initially thought a car hit the dog because it was bleeding and its paws looked like they were “shredded.”
"It may have been that his back legs shut down first and he was being dragged,” said Hecker.
Hecker said Ryan then dragged the dog, which weighed between 80-100 pounds, from outside the market another 2-1/2 blocks to his home and placed it inside the car.
“By the time police arrived, the dog was dead,” said Hecker. “American bulldogs are very sensitive to the heat, it should never have been outside on a day like that.”
“Dogs need constant hydration, just as people do, but they also can't take direct sunlight. What feels to us like 90 degrees might feel like 150 to them,” said Hecker.
Hecker also advised that dogs should never be walked on the street, or on a concrete sidewalk in extremely hot weather.
"At the shelter, we always walk the dogs in the woods," she said.
West View Police Lt. Matt Holland said Ryan was "devastated" by what happened.
"We don't think it was malicious, but rather that the man didn't realize the effect that type of heat was having on the animal," he said. "It was an accident."
Hecker said Ryan could face fines ranging from $50 to $750, up to 30 days in jail, and could be prohibited from owning another animal for a period of time determined by a judge.
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