Police: Pets left in 111-degree car for 90 minutes while owners shopped

GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — Police said a man and woman left their pets in a hot car for 1 1/2 hours while they shopped at Walmart.

All three pets are alive, but one of the dogs and the cat were so dehydrated, officers thought they might not make it.

Police told Channel 2's Tyisha Fernandes the cat was in even worse shape than the two dogs because it was inside a bag in the hot car.

“One officer had a temperature gauge and was able to get the temperature to be 111-degrees,” Officer Ted Sadowski said.

Police said the two suspects, Brianna Bennett and Samuel Boyd, left two dogs and a cat in their hot car while they walked around Walmart for nearly two hours.

Someone saw the three pets in the hot car and called Duluth police.

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Police said one dog was able to get out of the car before they arrived at the Walmart on Pleasant Hill Road.

“I believe a Lab mix was running around the parking lot and then finally went under the car where it was shaded, throwing up and vomiting because of the heat,” Sadowski said.

Police found the other dog and the cat in the car, also sick from the heat. They didn't immediately see the cat because it had been put inside a bag, which had been zipped up.

“It looked like a big purse kind of bag,” Sadowski said.

Officers said the cat nearly died in that bag.

Some bystanders gave police officers water bottles and officers tried to get the water to the pets while they looked for Bennett and Boyd in the store.

“They stated that they were only in Walmart for 15 minutes, but according to surveillance video, from the time they walked in and the time they walked out was an hour and a half," Sadowski said.

Police said the dogs are doing better, and the cat is still trying to recover.

Police said if you have your pets with you and cannot bring them into a store with you, bring two sets of keys, leave the car running with the air conditioning on, lock it and don't leave the pets alone in the car for more than 15 minutes.

Cox Media Group