Thursday March 28th, 2024 10:24PM

Owner arrested, dog impounded after near tragedy in Habersham hot car incident

DEMOREST — A Clayton man is out on bond and his family’s pet in in the care of animal control after being left in a hot car at a medical office near Demorest Thursday.

Bryan Keith Livengood was charged with misdemeanor cruelty to animals, and turned himself in at the Habersham County Detention Center, said Habersham County Animal Care and Control Director Madi Hawkins.

Officials responded after a witness called 9-1-1 reporting seeing a dog inside a vehicle with the windows barely open at about 3:15 p.m.

“The temperature outside was 92 degrees,” Hawkins said. “The vehicle had already reached fatal temperatures. The dog was showing beginning signs of heat stroke – drooling excessively, panting profusely and appearing disoriented.”

Hawkins said time was of the essence when she arrived.

“The vehicle was parked in direct sunlight,” Hawkins said. “It was 134 degrees in the car when I pulled her from the unlocked vehicle. The canine was immediately transported, being supplied water and air conditioning, to a veterinarian for treatment.

The dog is expected to make a full recovery.

Hawkins said the “feels like” temperature outside at the time of the incident was 97 degrees, according to Habersham Dispatch.

Hawkins said the incident is not a first for the county, but is the first where an arrest warrant was obtained.

“We have multiple calls a day for it,” Hawkins said. “Usually it’s someone running in somewhere, or the dog is still ok because we find the people quickly, but I didn’t have the time to go looking for them with her. She was already bad.”

The dog owner was allowed to take the rest of his family home, then turn himself in to the detention center, where he posted a $1,200 bond, records show.

The juvenile black mixed breed dog is being held by animal care and control until court, and no court date has been set in the case so far, Hawkins said.

© Copyright 2024 AccessWDUN.com
All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission.