GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — Channel 2 Action News has learned that a woman was arrested on animal cruelty charges after deputies say she left her dog in a hot car for hours and the animal died.
Investigators told Channel 2's Dave Huddleston that Connie Gomez, 46, left her dog in a car parked outside the Gwinnett County Courthouse in Lawrenceville for about five hours on Wednesday afternoon. Gomez was visiting the county jail.
Gomez left the windows cracked for her Rottweiler, Rambo, but by the time she returned, the dog had suffocated in the heat. She was arrested and charged with aggravated animal cruelty.
Deputy Shannon Volkodav told Huddleston that she doesn't know why Gomez waited so long to check on her dog.
"Unfortunately, as tragic as it is, someone has to be held accountable for the death of a dog that was so preventable," Volkodav said.
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The American Veterinary Medical Foundation website advises that your car can quickly reach a temperature that puts your pet at risk of serious illness and even death. Cracking the windows makes no difference.
"This is a good reminder of why warm weather and cars and dogs is not a good idea," Volkodav told Huddleston. "Any time it's warm outside, if it's mildly warm for us as humans, you have to remember dogs have fur coats."
Volkodav said this case was particularly upsetting for her office because Gwinnett County Sheriff R.L. (Butch) Conway is such an animal lover -- and because it happened in the county jail parking lot.
Sheriff Conway started Operation Second Chance in the same building -- a program in which inmates train dogs in order to save their lives and find them permanent homes.
"Every staff member who was on the scene was upset at the sight of this deceased dog," Volkodav said. "While we have compassion for pet owners who make poor decisions that lead to the death of their dog, these actions are against the law."