A dog was left inside a hot car Thursday while its owners cooled off at a Marietta water park, police said.
The dog was rescued at Six Flags White Water after temperatures inside the car surpassed 100 degrees, even with the windows cracked, according to Marietta police.
“Seriously folks — this heat can kill!” police said on Facebook. “Fortunately good people passing by the car notified us in time, the dog was removed alive and (it) is now doing okay.”
It was 89 degrees in Marietta Thursday afternoon, police said, but it felt more like the mid-90s. Officers recorded temperatures inside the car in the range of 109 to 126 degrees.
Police were called about 4 p.m. after the passerby notified park security, and White Water management took immediate action. They put an emergency page over the park’s loudspeaker to alert the dog’s owner and used a tool to pop open the locked door.
Park officials removed the overheated animal before officers arrived to investigate.
“In that environment, we didn’t have time to wait,” Marietta police officer Chuck McPhilamy told AJC.com on Friday. “...The dog was incredibly hot but was OK.”
The dog, a small poodle-terrier mix, belonged to a family traveling from Florida. The owner was issued two county citations for animal cruelty and leaving an animal unattended in a hot vehicle.
“The owner of the dog stated that she felt it would be fine if she came out periodically and checked on the dog,” McPhilamy said.
It was not left with any water. The dog was turned over to Cobb County animal control.
While McPhilamy said Thursday’s hot car incident was the first at the water park, his department handles several instances of pets, and sometimes children, left unattended in vehicles each year.
RELATED: Hot dog: 5 ways to keep pets safe in hot weather; what to do during heatstroke
Just two hours before the dog’s rescue, Marietta police issued a reminder on Facebook to never leave children or pets alone in hot vehicle.
“Not only did we just put out the warning, the only legitimate comment on that (post) was how sad that we need to be reminded,” McPhilamy said. “And it is sad.”
In most cases, it’s best to let police or fire officials force entry to save the overheated occupant. But McPhilamy said that Marietta officers will consider the urgency of a situation if a concerned passerby decides to take matters into their own hands.
“We all want the life to be the priority, whether it’s a child or an animal of any kind,” he said. “From there, let common sense prevail. If at all possible, call 911 and allow us to get there before you start damaging property.”
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