A New Hampshire woman is being charged with animal cruelty after her dog was left in a hot car over the weekend and died.
Portsmouth police said they were called to the parking lot outside Bed Bath & Beyond and Christmas Tree Shops at 100 Durgin Lane on Sunday for a report of an unresponsive dog in a vehicle. When they arrived, officers found a Terrier mix in a vehicle with the windows up, where it had apparently been left for several hours. The dog was already dead by the time they arrived.
The temperature outside was in the mid-70s at the time, but the temperature inside the vehicle was 125. Police found a small bowl of food and a very small amount of water on the rear passenger seat.
The dog's owner, 52-year-old Susan Weilbrenner, of Tamworth, was arrested at the scene and charged with cruelty to animals and a violation of the law governing animals in motor vehicles.
She was released on personal recognizance bail and is scheduled to appear in court on July 17.
Police said leaving a dog in a closed vehicle -- even for a short time -- can be deadly. They said it only takes 20 minutes for the interior of a vehicle to reach over 100 degrees on a 70-degree day.
