Police free 2 dogs from hot truck in St. John's parking lot

A driver in St. John's has been fined under the Animal Health Protection Act after leaving two dogs inside a locked pickup truck on Sunday afternoon.

The Royal Newfoundland Constabulary received a call about the two boxers at 3 p.m., with an officer arriving on scene to the parking lot of a city park around 3:20.

Avideo making the rounds on social media shows the officer circling the Ford F-150, while a woman attempts to feed the dogs water through a crack in the vehicle's front driver's side window.

RNC Const. Geoff Higdonsaid the officer on scene felt the windows were not rolled down enough for adequate ventilation, and when she pressed her hand to the truck window it was significantly hotter than the outside environment.

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Higdon said the officer managed to unlock the truck through a crack in the window, let the dogs out and put them in her police cruiser with the air conditioning cranked.

When the owner arrived on scene, they were issued a ticket for confining an animal without adequate ventilation, although the officer noted the owner hadn't had ill intentions when leaving the dogs, and hadn't anticipated being away for so long.

Police estimated the dogs had been in the vehicle for a minimum of half an hour to 45 minutes.

Higdon noted that the number of similar incidents reported to police is down in recent years, thanks to awareness campaigns and more local businesses allowing dogs inside on hot days.