Dog dies in hot car as woman shops 13 hours

As we've all been reminded, hot cars kill.

In Florida, where it gets even hotter, a woman faces only a misdemeanor charge of animal cruelty after leaving her dog in a car while she shopped for 13 hours at Wal-Mart.

Another shopper spotted the pet, Waldo, dead in the car of 49-year-old Cassaundra Rasmussen and alerted police in Crestview, Florida.

Rasmussen was found "browsing" in the store. She said she forgot about Waldo, left inside an oven of a car with no water.

I've been in some big stores, but they can't make one big enough to keep me shopping for 13 hours. My theory is Rasmussen doesn't have air conditioning at home and decided to stay cool at the big box store.

Too bad she didn't have enough sense to take Waldo to a no-kill animal shelter.

The temperature doesn't have to be that high to kill dogs and other pets, which lack sweat glands and have a tough time regulating their body temperature.

Even when temps are in the low 70s, a car in direct sunlight can quickly reach 116 degrees, according to a Pet Health article on NBC News.

Once a dog's body temperature reaches 106 degrees, it can die within just a couple of minutes, the article says.

Rasmussen, who has been in and out of the Okaloosa County Jail at least 15 times on charges ranging from cocaine possession to driving without a license to loitering, likely didn't "forget" Waldo.

It's more likely she just didn't care.

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