In yet another case of social media coming to the rescue of a trapped, helpless living being, Facebook is being hailed as the savior to a dog that was trapped inside a hot vehicle for hours. The incident happened in Harris County, Texas on Friday when passersby noted the hapless dog trapped inside an SUV parked outside the Splash Town water park. According to Click2Houston , the animal was first spotted by a woman who was parking her car near the SUV. The woman identified as Xochitl Dalton says;
“I looked over and saw that there was a huge yellow Lab. It looked like it was really, really hot.” Dalton immediately clicked a picture of the dog and posted it to several Facebook groups before calling up the police. However she was surprised to see the response to her post from social media. Within minutes of the post going viral, people from the nearby areas rushed to the place to rescue the trapped dog.
“I was amazed at how many people were wanting to rescue this dog,” says Dalton.
The vehicle, a Ford Freestyle had a Wisconsin number plate and the owner was nowhere to be seen. According to Harris County sheriff’s deputies, the car was left in the parking lot with the dog inside during the hottest time of the day.
A woman who saw the Facebook post was Melissa Camp who says she rushed to the park as soon as she heard about the trapped dog, a yellow Labrador. “I immediately dropped everything, got in my car and drove from Magnolia up here, ready to bust the windshield out,” Melissa said. There were others too who had reached the parking lot – armed with bricks and hammers they had planned to use in order to break the vehicle’s windows.
With people gathering in the parking lot, a park employee came in to inquire what the fuss was all about. The employee managed to somehow squeeze his hands through a small opening in the car window and was finally able to rescue the trapped dog – much to the relief of the people assembled there. The dog was visibly traumatized by the entire event and was seen panting heavily. The deputies assembled there confirmed that the dog was on the verge of passing out. Temperatures around Harris County was around 90 degrees on the day of the incident. Inside the vehicle however, it could have gone up to a crazy 140 degrees, potentially deadly for any living being trapped inside.
The dog owner was apprehended by the end of the day when he came out of the park as it closed for the day. The identity of the person has not been revealed yet. Officials say he has been booked under animal cruelty charges, The dog would not be given back to the owner again. The dog is currently in the custody of the Harris County Constable Pct. 1 Office.
[Image via Facebook]