Florida police smashed open the front window of a car to rescue a crying puppy, after the owner left it unattended in extreme heat.
Outside temperatures reached 94 degrees in Pensacola, Florida, on Sunday, when officer Anthony Giorgio heard a puppy whimpering from inside a parked car at the Cordova Mall, Captain Stephen Davis of the Pensacola Police Department told ABC News today.
Davis said the heat index that day was 108 degrees, and he estimates it was between 140 to 160 degrees inside the car.
The body camera footage of the officer shows the puppy in distress, calling for help. The car's windows were cracked open only a few inches.
The officer then shattered the glass window with his baton and rescued the puppy. Bystanders stopped by, offering the puppy water.
The owner was fined by Animal Control, but the puppy was released back to the owner, so the tiny canine could be reunited with his mother, Davis said.
"Don’t. Just don’t. If you leave your dog in a hot car and that dog is suffering, we will do whatever we have to do to free him," the Pensacola Police Department said in a Facebook post that has since gone viral.
The pictures of the puppy and the smashed glass have been shared more than 13,000 times on the social media site.
"We will drive your pooch to the caring folks at the Escambia County Animal Shelter and we will drop you off with the caring folks at the Escambia County Detention Facility. You will both receive attention, food, and shelter, albeit different kinds. So, don’t," the Pensacola PD warns.
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