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Dog left in hot car in hospital parking lot; owner charged with animal cruelty

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For the second time in less than three weeks, officials in Ontario County made an arrest for animal cruelty after a dog was left in a hot car.

The latest incident happened late Monday morning when passersby noticed a 2 year old Sharpei mix in distress inside a vehicle in the parking lot at Clifton Springs Hospital.  Yesterday's high temperature was 95 degrees at noon in Rochester.

"It's just a lack of common sense, in my opinion,” said Chief William McGuigan of the Ontario County Humane Society. “If it's too hot for you to sit in your car, why are you leaving your dog in there?"

A hospital employee removed the dog, named Mr. Rinkles, from the car, brought him to a shaded area and gave him water. 

McGuigan said the dog recovered from the ordeal and was released back to its owner, 77 year old Robert McKay of Penn Yan. There are no legal grounds to hold an animal in a case like this, McGuigan said, unless it’s being held for evidence.

"Personally, I would like to see Article 26 of the Agriculture and Markets law upgraded to the twenty first century. It's frustrating for law enforcement dealing with the laws because they so antiquated; they were written back in the early 1900s."

McKay faces up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine if he is convicted of cruelty to an animal, a misdemeanor.

On June 13, a Geneva man was arrested on the same charge after his dog died when it was left in a hot car in his driveway.

Beth Adams joined WXXI as host of Morning Edition in 2012 after a more than two-decade radio career. She was the longtime host of the WHAM Morning News in Rochester. Her career also took her from radio stations in Elmira, New York, to Miami, Florida.