Breeder convicted over hot dog
A dog breeder who left her pet in a parked car on a 38C day has been found guilty of animal cruelty.
Adele Culverwell, 65, of Muckenburra, was convicted in Perth Magistrates Court today after her dog Roxy was found in a car outside Carousel Shopping Centre in December last year.
Outside court, RSPCA chief inspector Amanda Swift said inspectors charged Culverwell after she refused to accept her actions had caused Roxy to suffer or rule out leaving the dog in a parked car in future.
“We received complaints about a dog locked in a car at the Carousel Shopping Centre in Cannington in December 2012 and the RSPCA inspector found Roxy panting inside a Ford panel van in the car park at approximately 4.30pm,” she said.
“The inspector took the dog to a veterinary clinic where it was diagnosed with heat stroke and had to be treated with cooling techniques and given fluid intravenously before being discharged into the care of the RSPCA."
Ms Swift said the conviction, believed to be the first of its kind in WA, sent a warning to all dog owners about leaving their pets in hot vehicles.
“This message has been out there in the public domain for many years and some people are still putting their dogs at risk of serious long term health problems and even death by cooking them in hot cars,” she said.
“Last summer, the RSPCA received almost 600 calls about dogs in hot cars and in the vast majority of cases, the people concerned have been horrified to learn that they could have seriously harmed or even caused the death of their dog and they have vowed never to do so again.”
Culverwell is due to be sentenced on August 8.
Roxy is being cared for by the RSPCA.
