65-Year-Old Arrested After Her 3 Dogs Die in Hot Car

A 65-year-old Rhode Island woman has been charged with felony cruelty to animals after leaving her three dogs, including a puppy, in a car during a heat wave. Police in Jamestown say the dogs, a 4-year-old black lab, a 7-month-old black lab and a 4-year-old gray Keeshond—a breed that has a dense double coat—were found unresponsive in the vehicle outside a grocery store Sunday afternoon, ABC reports. Police say officers and bystanders attempted to revive the dogs, but they were pronounced dead at Newport Animal Hospital, reports the Newport Daily News.

Police say Ann Garnett left the dogs unattended in the vehicle for "an extended period of time." Police say the car's windows were rolled up, the air conditioning wasn't working, and the dogs didn't have any water. The temperature in Jamestown that day reached 95 degrees, with the heat index making it feel closer to 110. Garnett has been charged with three counts of unnecessary cruelty to an animal, a felony punishable by up to five years in prison and a $1,000 fine on each count, reports the Providence Journal. (Last year, an Ohio man was cited for criminal damage after smashing a window to save two dogs from a hot car.)