Crossville Police were dispatched to Netherton Court Monday afternoon (9/25/23) for a report of a dog that died after being left alone in a parked car with the windows rolled up. The owner told police she parked her vehicle around 1:20pm and thought she had left the windows rolled down for her year-and-a-half-year-old Chocolate Lab, which she intentionally left inside the car. Less than 3 hours later, the woman returned to her car and found the dog dead inside. The car’s windows were rolled up. Police say the dog had been dead for some time and had started to stiffen up. The weather was in the mid to upper 70’s and when police arrived the car was in the shade. There were small pieces of the passenger-side door panel that had been chewed or scratched in the floor board. It’s unknown if the dog died due to heat, ingesting car parts as she tried to chew and claw her way out of the vehicle, or other causes. Police say no charges were filed for the dog’s owner due to it being an accident.
According to sciencenews.org, even on a mild, sunny day a vehicle parked in the shade can still reach deadly hot temperatures inside. It just takes a little longer than a vehicle parked in direct sunlight.