A dog walker has been banned from 'dealing with or transporting' dogs for three years and ordered to pay almost £500 after leaving a dog to die in a van on a day when it was 30C outside. Pam Fisher admitted one offence under the Animal Welfare Act offence - causing unnecessary suffering to a two-year-old cocker spaniel named Teddy by leaving him in a vehicle on a hot day, causing his death.
Fisher had already said she would close her business after the death of the dog, whose temperature rose to 40C.
On August 11 last year, Teddy's took him to a vet, already dead, after he had been left in Fisher’s van. Teddy’s owner had received a call from Fisher to inform her that she had forgotten to take the dog home and that she found him dead in her van. Fisher said she had dropped off the other dogs in her care but had forgotten that she still had Teddy in her van.
In an interview with an RSPCA inspector, Fisher said that, after a group dog walk, she usually dropped Teddy off first but on this day she dropped two other dogs at home first. She said that the other two dogs were in a crate which covered the view of the crate Teddy was in, reports YorkshireLive.
After being made aware by Teddy’s owner that the dog wasn’t at home, the court heard Fisher checked the van and was horrified when she saw Teddy in the crate, dead. When asked in the interview how she felt, Fisher said she was “devastated” and that evening texted her customers to say she was stopping her business. Vets state Teddy had died of heatstroke and that his body temperature was 40C.
A vet statement went on to say: “It is my opinion that the likely cause of Teddy’s death was heat stroke. Dogs can develop heat stroke and die within an hour in hot weather. It is unknown how long and how quickly Teddy died. It is likely that Teddy will have suffered.”
RSPCA Inspector Claire Mitchell said: “Fisher had confirmed that she’d forgotten to drop Teddy off back at his owner’s and he’d been in the back of the van for five hours. The temperature that day was 30C.
“We hope this tragic case reminds people that the risk to the lives of animals is so high. Our message is simple: never leave a dog in a hot car - ‘not long’ is too long, and if you see a dog in a hot car, call 999 immediately.”
Fisher, of Chaloners Road, York, was handed a three-year ban on dealing with and transporting dogs, a 12-month community order and ordered to pay costs of £400 and a £95 victim surcharge.
