Inglewood woman charged in dog's death
An Inglewood woman has been charged animal cruelty because she allegedly left her dog in her car for hours with the windows closed. The dog had to be put to sleep.
Eloisa Asuncion Zapata, 40, also was charged Tuesday with animal endangerment, the District Attorney's Office said.
A passerby called police Saturday after noticing the dog in distress in the Mitsubishi Mirage car on Robertson Boulevard in West Los Angeles.
Officers broke the windows and found the dog unresponsive. The dog was comatose and had to be euthanized because of heat stroke.
Zapata, who was released on $21,564 bail, is scheduled to be arraigned on April 26 at the Airport courthouse. If convicted, she faces up to three years in prison.
Deputy District Attorney Debbie Knaan said the case illustrates how quickly pets can become overheated in a closed car, even when temperatures are in the 70s.
Knaan said studies have shown that a healthy dog, whose normal body temperature ranges from 101 to 102.5 degrees, can withstand a body temperature of 107 to 108 degrees for only a short time. This dog's body temperature was 107.5 degrees when it was taken to the vet, she said.
Eloisa Asuncion Zapata, 40, also was charged Tuesday with animal endangerment, the District Attorney's Office said.
A passerby called police Saturday after noticing the dog in distress in the Mitsubishi Mirage car on Robertson Boulevard in West Los Angeles.
Officers broke the windows and found the dog unresponsive. The dog was comatose and had to be euthanized because of heat stroke.
Zapata, who was released on $21,564 bail, is scheduled to be arraigned on April 26 at the Airport courthouse. If convicted, she faces up to three years in prison.
Deputy District Attorney Debbie Knaan said the case illustrates how quickly pets can become overheated in a closed car, even when temperatures are in the 70s.
Knaan said studies have shown that a healthy dog, whose normal body temperature ranges from 101 to 102.5 degrees, can withstand a body temperature of 107 to 108 degrees for only a short time. This dog's body temperature was 107.5 degrees when it was taken to the vet, she said.
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Larry Altman has covered crime in the South Bay since 1990. He's seen it all - the missing model who turned up dead in the desert, the wives found dead in trunks, the high-school coaches who get a little too close to their players. He drives his young colleagues nuts with his "I remember when" stories. He welcomes your tips and observations about the present, and you can mix in a little Lakers basketball talk if you like.
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Good, she needs to be prosecuted. What she did is nothing short of common sense. Thank God it wasn't a human child she left in the car. I have to question the brainpower of these idiots that go inside a store and leave a pet or child in their car with their windows rolled up. We have so many idiots in this world - it's pathetic. Then they wonder why they are being prosecuted - as if they are innocent. What they are is STUPID. I'm agast.