Woman Charged With Leaving Dog in Car

None 1 year, 11 months ago

Obiously Ms. Grooms' didn't realize that the temperature can reach 160 degrees in a matter of minutes. And a fur coat will cause an animal to dehydrate within minutes causing kidney failure and heat stroke as well.

Some people shouldn't have pets in their care. I hope the court uses this case as an example to other mindless pet owners. Unfortunitely she wouldn't be tried under Suzies law which could result in a much harsher sentence.

SANDHILLSK9 1 year, 11 months ago

TODA: I THINK SHE GOT THE POINT NOW

CSmithson 1 year, 11 months ago

Even worse, this was at the movie theatre, so it wasn't a matter of "just running into the store for a minute." Officers had to enter the vehicle to remove the dog and take it in for emergency treatment.

kgirl 1 year, 11 months ago

I knew when I read the name of the road that it sounded familiar, but didn't realize it was the movie theater until CSmithson wrote that. Hopefully the dog is fine. People need to pay attention to what is going on around them also. If you see children or pets left in cars, always notify authorities so something can be done.

blessherheart 1 year, 11 months ago

I will try again. Is it illegal to have an animal left in a car at all or any time? I am very curious because I know and have friends who do it from time to time at night when it is fall or winter weather.

CSmithson 1 year, 11 months ago

I don't think it is ALWAYS illegal to leave an animal in a car, but when the high is about 89 degrees as it was on Sunday, you leave your dog in the car for a couple hours to go see a movie, and a vet who happened to be there diagnoses the dog with severe heat stroke, you are going to get charged with cruelty with animals.

Tom_Embrey 1 year, 11 months ago

@blessherheart: www.ncga.state.nc.us/enactedlegislati...>

LucilleGreybone 1 year, 11 months ago

She should have just left her windows cracked enough so the dog could jump out and go live with someone with a little common sense.

CSmithson 1 year, 11 months ago

SPlocal,

I'm not sure how the police responding to a call about animal abuse equates to them being a "buncha lazy cops."

As far as the completely unrelated issue of drugs and drug-related crimes go, the SP Police make a ton of arrests every week. If people want to get the street drug trade out of their neighborhoods, they need to get fed up and then speak up. All the cops in the world cannot stop things if the law-abiding members of a neighborhood look the other way or even condone the behavior.

Brookside is pretty much the highest crime area in town. The on-site management is usually scared of the residents. The out-of-town corporate owners don't care as long as they get their rent every month. The Town is trying to get the place declared a public nuisance, but that is a long road. If the good people at Brookside (and most of them are) called the police whenever they saw suspicious or unlawful activity, there'd be a lot more the police could do. Probable cause goes a long way towards helping the police do their jobs.

I hear from a lot of people in neighborhoods where street sales of drugs are a concern. Frustratingly, when the police make efforts to step up proactive enforcement, a number of vocal people complain that the police are hassling everyone. So, the question becomes, "are they enforcing too much or not enough?"

Of course, in the end, if we could eliminate all drug sales in Southern Pines, the activity would just shift over to neighboring communities. The demand for the product is still there.

blessherheart 1 year, 11 months ago

Thank you CSmith and Tom

silentbob 1 year, 11 months ago

splocal why are you calling him a know-it-all prick all he did was state fact. The police should have charged this women it is wrong to leave a pet in the car in that heat. I got a little dog that loves to ride but I would not take him anywhere that I knew he would have to stay in the car for 2 or more hours. I don't have to defend smithson but this article had nothing to do with drug dealers in SP. It was also wrong for you to say buncha lazy cops because they charged this women for this incident. There is nothing wrong with you having your opinion but we are also allowed to have ours without being called pricks. If you don't live here anymore why does it matter to you anyway just complain about everything were you live.

teufelhunden 1 year, 11 months ago

splocal-look in the mirror...

LucilleGreybone 1 year, 11 months ago

yeah, there are alot of police shooting in MC.

Hortiphile 1 year, 11 months ago

This GREATLY concerns me! We have a dog that we take EVERYWHERE with us. He's like our child. We don't like leaving him alone at home. We take him all times of the year. If it's cold he has his bed and a blanket (most of the time cashmere), if it's hot we roll down the windows, park in the shade and have a big bowl of water for him. I read nowhere in the article that her windows were up... Does anyone know for sure?

CSmithson 1 year, 11 months ago

@splocal I agree with you in that it would have been ideal if the dog had been noticed early and the manager had paged the theatre to get the owner out there.

There are just a couple of problems:

1) Someone called the police. The police responded to the call. How again can responding to a call for service equate with "lazy cops?" If there is the possibility of a drug crime being committed somewhere in town, should the police not respond to calls such as animal abuse because they don't meet your standard of importance?

2) Apparently, the dog was already sick by the time someone noticed it. Medical treatment was necessary. Had the owner been called out of the theatre, the dog would still have been sick and it still would have been abused by being left in a hot car for an extended period of time.

As far as me not "allowing" you to have your own thoughts "right or wrong," how did I stop you? Have all the thoughts you want, but if you anonymously go on the internet and blast our police department simply for responding to a call for service, don't expect to always get a free pass.

LB67 1 year, 11 months ago

Hortiphile the temps reach well over 100 degrees in a car within just a few minutes of being parked in summer weather, even with the windows down it is still way too hot to be wearing a fur coat in a parked car in the summer, if I see a dog in a car when I go in a store and the poor thing is still there when I am done with shopping you better believe I call the police, your dog would be so much more comfortable at home, if you don't trust him buy a crate, you said you have a cashmere blanket for winter months, do you have fan for the summer?

SCCstudent 1 year, 11 months ago

@splocal => sounds to me like you are very opinionated when it comes to animal tourture and abuse. It also sounds from your posts you have an ax to grind with the efforts to save a defenseless animal from a self-centered human by SP Police. Your opinions are well noted but few take anything from them other than you have social issues. So are theater managers now enforcing NC General Statues with the authority to make an arrest? You are talking out of your ass.

GoldenDreams 1 year, 11 months ago

splocal, you sound very cruel. To come out and say you don't care about a suffering dog is very mean-spirited. Why are you so angry? Sounds like you are one of those angry vets to me. If you are, please don't take it out on a police officer trying to help a dog with severe heat stroke! If you have some other issue, try to solve it or get some help. Please don't become an animal-owner! (Notice I did not say pet owner).

rdmore 1 year, 11 months ago

splocal...as they say, ignorance is bliss, you must be the happiest person in the world. I'm sure the 3rd grade education has gotten you far in life. Good luck with that and I'm praying you see the light but be careful, sounds like "your" light will probably be a train you look at while walking down the tracks wondering why it's coming for you.

silentbob 1 year, 11 months ago

I don't normally agree with SCC student but on this one I have to. I am a pet owner and they depend on us for care. It is wrong to leave this dog in that car in the heat. The manager has no legal right to go in that ladies car and rescue that dog, that is a police fuction. If you got such an issue with drugs in SP then do something about it instead of complaining.

greentara13 1 year, 11 months ago

Gosh, that someone is angry over a poor abused animal BEING saved, rather than it dying a cruel death is just beyond crazy. Must be nice to have the luxury of having all that energy to be angry at good news.

None 1 year, 11 months ago

splocal Delusional and demented rational on your part!

@taxed2deth Apparently splocal has never seen our movie theater complex.

Thanks to the Southern Pines Police Department for their objective enforcement of animal cruelty laws.

dogboy 1 year, 11 months ago

...Yup, pathetic, that certainly describes you splocal.

runorbike 1 year, 11 months ago

I'll call a cop and/or animal control on an irresponsible pet owner in a heartbeat.

None 1 year, 11 months ago

i here a lot of junk talking on this page. Not everyone is a animal lover so that is on them leave it alone. Yes the person left the dog in the car her mistake now she will pay. All the rest of the comments save it for the peanut gallery. People get insane about animals but how insane do these self centered people get about children in the same area of southern pines who are homeless and have no food to eat lets see how many jump to their aide!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

SCCstudent 1 year, 11 months ago

Maybe it is demographic since Holiday Towne Appartments are a souce of drug culture in Southern Pines. I'm not sure what neighborhood some of you live in but I have never had to chase anyone off my property trying to climb in a window. Or had to pull a firearm....paranoid.

splocal and Jeffrey Dahmer have a lot in common along with other famous serial killers; they all started with innocent animals and progressively moved up to humans. But then again, no one had a gun to protect themselves against Dohmer, or the animals he abused and killed....I have to agree with Toda: "there are people who need kill'n, but never a defenseless animal".

SCCstudent 1 year, 11 months ago

splocal => not opposed to hunting, just how lazy hunters kill game. Running a deer until it drops with dogs isn't sporting to me. Yep, I've even killed a fresh hen, but then it went into the pot with dumplings.

Have you ever eatten a perro or gato? I doubt it. I can't stand to see an animal mistreated by anyone. They have no choices. I equate it with child abuse - children have no choices either. If someone wants to be big and bold, step up to the plate with someone who can fight back. Most candy asses like Mike Vick would rather do the Dahmer thing. Abusers have a comfort zone.

silentbob 1 year, 11 months ago

ChuckTaylor why do we have to turn this in to a cop bashing story. Unless you have worked the streets of SP or any other community in this county in a patrol car I don't think you can honestly make the comments you made about the police not caring. I can assure you if you check the call logs and daily logs of most SP police officers they spend more time in the neighborhoods you referred to than they do on the other sides of the tracks. The police just can't go out and snatch up every person they think is committing a crime there has to be probable cause and evidence. This story is about a dog that cannot chose his owner and depends on the owner to look after it and in this case the owner did not and some good citizen called the police and did the right thing for this pet. SP local I enjoy hunting, deer, turkey, ducks and other wild game but I do not agree with hunting deer with dogs that is the biggest reason I don't deer hunt much anymore in Moore county.

Southernbelle 1 year, 11 months ago

WOW, I want to say "YEAH" to the SP police, good job!!!!! The owner should have to sit in a car for hours for punishment!!!

LB67 1 year, 11 months ago

I totally agree Southernbelle, she should have to sit in the car wearing a fur coat

sunshine5888 1 year, 11 months ago

I feel that the owner should have known better than to lock the dog up in the car in excess heat. At Lowe's Foods one day, I spotted a dog in a car. Yes, the windows were cracked open some, but it was still too hot! I waited about 20 min. to see if the owners would come out. If not, I was going to take the tag number in Lowes and have it announced over the intercom. However, The dog was not in distress at this time. There may not have been time to look for the owner and the dog already needed care. I'm sure the lady learned a lesson and will never do that again!

CNMT 1 year, 11 months ago

Based on splocal's comments I hope I am never in trouble on the road...he/she just might run me over like they said they would do to the animal. I can't believe anyone is that heartless when it comes to an animal (or a child - I have seen that also!) being left alone in a hot car for hours. I hope this little critter is ok...and that the owners have learned a lesson. I have 2 dogs and while I like to take them with me for rides in the car, I never take them if I know I am going to have to leave the vehicle and can't take them with me. They get to ride often. I just take them for a ride when I can - going to the park to walk, to PetsMart to get groomed or nails trimmed, or when hubby is also going with me and one of us can stay outside with the dog - not locked up in a hot car.

If one doesn't love their pets enough to care for them properly, maybe they need to find them a new owner who will!

LB67 1 year, 11 months ago

I saw a little dog left in the car last night while the owner was enjoying a meal in applebees, I'm sure the dogs owner was comfortable in the a/c but it was still very hot outside, even though the car windows were down I know that poor dog was miserable, people just don't have common sense sometimes

SCCstudent 1 year, 11 months ago

Inconsiderate humans with psychopathic tendencies. Animal cruelty is a known precusor for socially unbalanced people.

sailaway 1 year, 11 months ago

Re: SP Police. They have a legal mandate to make arrests for animal cruelty. They did what we citizens pay them to do. There is ample time in their schedules to deal with drug crime as well as many other issues.. In addition to their correct law enforcement, its evident they cared for the suffering animal. I have dogs, I take them in the car with me. I would never leave them in a car in the summer, even though that often means I have to backtrack home and be inconvenienced. But that's simply living up to my responsibilty as a pet owner. The lady owning the dog should have a sentence imposed by the court that she never own any animals again. She is unable to make wise decisions in the care of her pets. Thanks to the theater manager and SP Pines Police for their concern and actions. Last comment-I care deeply for animals AND children. Its absurd to think that people who care for animals ignore the plight of disadvantaged children. Both deserve our compassion and generous protection.

SCCstudent 1 year, 11 months ago

Jack the Ripper, Ed Gein, The Zodiac Killer, Charles Manson, Ted Bundy, David Berkowitz, Mary Ann Cotton, Marybeth Tinning, Nannie Doss, Belle Gunness, Dorothea Puente, Aileen Wuornos, John Wayne Gacy, just to name a few. What did most serial killers have in common? Animal abuse in their formative years. Have you ever heard of a mafia hit man named the Ice Man? He liked to throw animals from the top of buildings - for the fun of it.

As far as Dahmer is concerned: He was held responsible for 15 murders, sentenced to 15 life terms. Dahmer then expressed remorse and wished death upon himself. He was beaten to death by a fellow inmate and died of severe head trauma. That says a lot about prisoner justice. One of the few serial killers who cannibalized their victims.

BTW: I read more than I watch television. I wouldn't call it a fixation more than he really got what was coming to him. Hopefully justice will find due course for these criminals.

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Woman Charged With Leaving Dog in Car

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