LAKESIDE, Colo. — On a sweltering day this week in Lakeside, Colorado, police were called to a local Walmart after alert shoppers spotted a little dog clearly in distress inside a blisteringly hot car.
Temperatures were hovering around 100 degrees Tuesday, according to KDVR-TV, and had reached almost 124 inside a car where a dog was panting and having trouble breathing.
When police arrived, they broke the car window and, with the help of animal control officers, rescued the dog, KDVR reported.
When the owner, identified as Arron Marlow, arrived at the scene, he appeared angry.
He was "mad that his window was broken," Lakeside police officer Dave Kornowski told the news station.
But, even more surprising to police, Marlow jumped in his car and tried to flee the scene. He got as far as a gas station at the other end of the parking lot before police caught up with him and arrested him, KDVR reported.
Marlow is now facing charges of eluding police and animal cruelty.
As for his little dog, named Pedro, he was in critical condition Tuesday night, but Pedro’s condition improved and by Wednesday he was heading to a local animal rescue.