A Tampa man was arrested after he allegedly left two dogs inside a locked car for nearly 12 hours.
Hillsborough County deputies responded to a concerned neighbor’s call just after 2 a.m. Monday at an apartment complex in Tampa. The neighbor said she saw two dogs inside the car.
The dogs had first been seen in the car the previous day at 3 p.m., deputies say.
Kenneth Warren, 67, reportedly came outside while deputies were investigating the call. He was then arrested and charged with two counts of cruelty to animals.
“Leaving these dogs locked in a hot car for hours wasn’t a lapse in judgment; it was gross negligence,” Sheriff Chad Chronister said in an HCSO post on X.
On Sunday just after 6:45 p.m., temperatures in Tampa were recorded at 85 degrees, according to an Oct. 4 forecast by 10 Tampa Bay News meteorologists. And at 88 degrees, Monday was projected to be the hottest day of the week on Oct. 5.
The National Weather Service says the inside of a car can act like a greenhouse; cars can reach upwards of 120 degrees, with a 20-degree increase in just 10 minutes and up to 50 degrees within an hour. Data shows that from 1998 to 2016, there were 700 deaths caused by being left in a hot car.
“Half of these were children that were forgotten by a parent or other caregiver, and nearly 20 percent died when parents knowingly left their child in a vehicle,” NWS said. “The rest died playing in an unattended vehicle.”
NWS urges you to always “Look before you lock” to make sure no children and pets are left inside before you walk away.
“Our Florida weather can turn a vehicle into a death trap quickly, and we are grateful for the neighbor who called us to help these defenseless animals,” Chronister added.