Animal Control Officer Faces Criminal Charges After Death Of Dog
DENVER (CBS4) - A Denver animal control officer is facing criminal charges after the death of a dog .
The animal allegedly died from extreme heat in the back of the Jennifer Mooney's van while on duty. Two other dogs were also affected.
The three dogs were placed in the back of an animal control van. There they were caged and the space is supposed to be air conditioned. But when Mooney returned to the shelter a Rottweiler was dead, another suffered a heat stroke, and a third dog recovered.
The Denver District Attorney's Office filed criminal charges of animal cruelty nearly a year after the incident occurred.
"Once she had picked up those animals and she had placed them in her vehicle, she had the care and custody of those animals and that began her role and her responsibility in for caring for them," Denver district attorney spokesperson Lynn Kimbrough said.
The air conditioning in the truck was tested and working.
Recently CBS4's Rick Sallinger spotted a dog in a car with the car window partially open and a shade on the front window. Despite that, when animal control officer Aaron McSpadden measured the temperature, it was 94.5 degrees inside the car.
"A large dog like this with long hair, it doesn't take long," McSpadden said.
He went into the grocery store to try to find the owner. When McSpadden returned to the car the temperature had soared to 105 degrees in just 18 minutes. The owner appeared and got a lecture.
"By law it's cruelty to animals if the animal is subjected to extreme temperatures. You had adequate ventilation, put the sun shade up and made a quick trip, but you still are in violation of that," McSpadden told the dog owner.
The owner replied that he has raised dogs 60 years and knew what he was doing. By then the dog was panting. When Sallinger attempted to speak with its owner, he had no further comment.
Mooney's attorney said the case will question the accuracy of her temperature gauge, the suitability of the van for animals, and the regulations that require the officers to drive around with the animals for hours.
