Montreal woman guilty of animal cruelty after dog left in sweltering hot car dies
A municipal court judge has found a Montreal woman guilty of willfully causing unnecessary pain and suffering to her dog after the animal was left in a hot car.
The bulldog, Ares, died in July 2011 after its owner, Marina Palakartcheva, left the dog in the back of her parked car downtown, in the late afternoon, for more than an hour. According to official records for that day, the high reached 30.7 C at the airport.
"The death of Ares was caused solely by heat stroke caused by having left him too long in an automobile without water and without sufficient ventilation and shelter from the sun, in broad daylight, during a heat wave," Judge Randall Raymond wrote in his decision, rendered earlier this month.
Palakartcheva faces a fine of up to $10,000 and up to 18 months jail time. Sentencing arguments are set for September.
'Like touching a hot oven'
It was a passerby that first noticed Ares in the back of the car, which was parked near the corner of Pine and Parc avenues, around 5:30 p.m. The dog was on the leash and the leash was held in place by the closed hatchback.
The passerby testified that the dog was lying motionless on his side, breathing heavily, tongue hanging out of his mouth, and appeared to be in distress.
The passerby tried to find the dog's owner with no success, then called the police. Officers arrived and eventually broke the window of the car and rushed the dog to a veterinary clinic.
"The dog was extremely hot to the touch, it was almost like touching a hot oven," one of the responding officers testified.
Ares died the next day.
Contradictory testimony on temperature
Palakartcheva's testimony contradicted that of other witnesses on several points.
She testified that Ares suffered separation anxiety and so she brought him almost everywhere with her.
She said she was only gone for about 30 minutes that day, but the judge concluded based on the timeline for other witnesses that Ares was left alone in the car for at least an hour and ten minutes.
Palakartcheva testified she thought it was between 20 C and 25 C at the time, but other witnesses testified it was extremely hot and humid.
Leaving windows open 'totally inadequate'
Palakartcheva testified she left the windows open a crack and parked in the shade to keep the dog cool.
Gisèle Déry, the veterinarian who treated Ares, testified leaving the windows open would do little to prevent the dog overheating.
"It's too hot. It's like an oven, the car. The air isn't flowing enough. That is totally inadequate. It's intolerable," Déry testified.
Palakartcheva testified she didn't believe Ares died of heat stroke because he "loved the heat."
