From: CBC News
Photo: Tucker, a year-and-a-half-old chocolate Labrador dog, died after being left in a car for two hours in a the Vaughn Mills mall parking lot in June. (Angele Lazurko)
Police allege pair left dog in hot car while they went shopping at Vaughan Mills Mall
Two Sudbury residents are due in Newmarket court today in a case of a dog that died after being left in a sweltering car just north of Toronto.
Fire crews removed the animal from the vehicle last month at the Vaughan Mills Mall, but the one-year-old Lab died a short time later. Police allege the dog’s owners left their pet in the car while they went shopping as the mercury climbed to nearly 30 degrees Celsius.
Twenty-one-year-old Matthieu Arbour and 20-year-old Angele Lazurko face a joint charge of causing unnecessary suffering to an animal.
As previously reported by CBC News, the dog’s death happened the weekend Lazurko and Arbour were in Toronto for Woofstock, an annual outdoor dog festival.
Returning north on the hot Sunday afternoon, the two stopped at a mall to shop, leaving the young dog in the hot car without water. Police reported the dog was in the car for more than two hours.
Dave Lazurko, Angele’s father, said his daughter’s mistake was a lapse of judgment.
“This is the only trip she’s ever taken with the dog,” he said. “Things just went wrong, and she wasn’t used to it, and now we’re into this situation.”
His daughter expressed she hopes her mistake can prevent future animal deaths.
“Hopefully this is something that can be avoided in the future,” Dave Lazurko said. “I think she’s not used to be[ing] down in southern Ontario, and she lost track of time, so hopefully no one else will have the same experience.”
Read more: CBC News
