Las Vegas casino security rescues puppy with tape around mouth inside hot car, police say
LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- It may go without saying that leaving a living, breathing person or animal in a vehicle outside, especially in the midst of the extreme summer across the nation, has the potential to reach a fatal consequence.
Las Vegas casino security workers were able to keep that outcome from happening earlier this month when they pulled a husky puppy that wasn't only locked in a car that wasn't running. The little canine had its mouth tape shut, police said.
On Thursday, Las Vegas Metro police released bodycam footage of an officer responding to the animal rescue on July 20 at the Bellagio casino parking garage. The high temperature that day was 113 degrees, the department tweeted.
"Security spotted a puppy inside a locked vehicle on the top floor of the parking garage with its mouth taped shut around 3 p.m." police tweeted, adding that casino security got the dog out through the vehicle's sunroof.
The bodycam video shows the dog panting with its tongue out while being comforted by security and a woman bystander.
"He was (found) with a lot of saliva," the woman says in the video. "And he wasn't able to breathe."
The video then shows a man walking toward the scene, who admits to owning the vehicle. He's immediately arrested.
"You're going to jail on a felony willful endangerment of an animal," the officer tells the man, whom police identify as 50-year-old Raul Carbajal from Corona Del Mar in Southern California. "You realize how hot it is outside? You had the vehicle off, windows up, and you had tape around your dog's mouth."
So what was Carbajal doing the entire time the dog was locked in the car?
"Through our investigation, we discovered the dog had been in the car for nearly 2 hours without air conditioning, food, or water while the vehicle's owner went inside to gamble," police tweeted.
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