Docs: 2 arrested after chained dog dies in hot car; other dog honks horn for help
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — A 53-year-old man and a 74-year-old woman were arrested on Thursday after police say a dog was found chained up and dead in their hot car.
Around 6 p.m., Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officers were sent to the Intown Suites Hotel, 5820 W. 85th St., on the city’s northwest side on a report of a dog left in a Chevrolet sedan.
Upon their arrival, they spoke with a hotel manager and were shown the car parked in the hotel’s lot.
The 53-year-old man, identified as Charles Thomas, approached an officer to tell him “one of the dogs inside his vehicle was dead,” court docs say.
News 8 spoke with witness Kiarah Miller, who saw the dog in the car just before officers arrived while she walked her own dog, King.
“I knew something had to be deeper when I saw poor little paws just stretched out there,” Miller said.
An additional witness said they heard Thomas asking the pit bull earlier to “wake up.”
Police also saw a chain that had held the pit bull was tied to the floorboard of the car with a weight.
According to the probable cause affidavit, a pit bull, a German Shepherd and a cat were locked in the car.
Court docs say the hotel manager believed the two adults had arrived at the hotel around 3:10 p.m. Police say the dogs had likely been in the car for about three hours without water.
Shortly after their arrival, the manager said he “was alerted to the vehicle by the horn honking from the dog inside the vehicle.”
The documents say the German Shepherd did the honking, and that claw marks could be seen on the car’s window.
The manager said the car was turned off and he called for Animal Control.
The woman, identified as 74-year-old Norma Light, said she had not gone to check on the animals and her choice to leave the animals in the car was due to the fact that the hotel was not pet-friendly. News 8 confirmed only service animals are permitted inside the hotel.
The pit bull, named Masus, was confirmed dead by Animal Control and collected. The cat and German Shepherd were given water and taken to an air-conditioned area.
Thomas was arrested for felony animal cruelty-kill and Light was arrested for misdemeanor animal cruelty. Both were taken to the Marion County jail.
“It’s horrible,” Miller said. “If you ask me, it’s just as bad as someone leaving a child in the car.”
IMPD Lt. Shane Foley called for better heat safety for people and dogs.
“Dogs need to have water. They need to have food. They need to have shelter,” Foley said. “They need to have a way to get out of the heat.”
