Calgary woman, 30, facing criminal charge after dog left in hot car dies

Police have charged the owner of a dog that was left in a hot car and died on Canada Day.

Officers say they received a call about a distressed dog inside the locked car with its windows rolled all the way up.

Witnesses reportedly saw the large dog panting so heavy that the car was shaking.

An officer broke a window of the car to rescue the animal, but it was dead on the floor.

Investigators say they believe the four-year-old dog named Lucky, an Alaskan Malamute-German shepherd cross, had been left in the car for more than two hours while the temperature hovered around 20 C.

The owner, a 30-year-old woman, has been charged with causing damage or injury to an animal under the Criminal Code and causing an animal to be in distress, an offence under the province's animal protection act.

"It boggles my mind that we continue to receive calls for service related to animals left in hot vehicles," acting Insp. Scott Neilson said in a release Thursday.

"Lucky’s death was an avoidable tragedy, and I’m asking Calgarians to think of her the next time they consider leaving an animal inside of a car on a warm or hot day, even for a short period.”

Calgary Humane Society's director of enforcement said the temperature inside a vehicle can rise to dangerous levels within minutes.

"Dogs do not regulate body temperature like humans; they don’t sweat and are so much more susceptible to heat-related injury," said Brad Nichols.

"We shouldn’t be fielding hundreds of these types of calls every summer."