BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. - A Central Florida couple is facing felony animal cruelty charges after deputies say they left a puppy inside a car while they went shopping at the mall.
The Brevard County Sheriff's Office arrested Mecaila Page Johnson, 19, and Brandon Mclaren, 32. In a video posted to Facebook, Sheriff Wayne Ivey says an anonymous caller reported seeing the 10-week-old puppy inside a car at the Melbourne Square Mall on Sunday afternoon. The windows were reportedly up and the engine was off.
"If not for the life-saving efforts of the anonymous citizen who called us and the actions of Steve Anderson, our animal enforcement officer, this puppy would have died," Ivey said.
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Sheriff Ivey says the puppy was crying in pain, in serious medical condition, and was ‘near death’ while inside the hot vehicle.
Officer Anderson arrived at the scene and removed the puppy from the car, which had reached over 100-degrees. The puppy was cooled off in his air-conditioned patrol vehicle and then brought over to animal control for treatment.
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He says the couple arrived back at the car 30 minutes after the puppy had been rescued. Ivey says they admitted to leaving the puppy inside the car "while they were walking around inside the mall in the comfort of the air conditioning."
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The puppy is expected to be ok.
Johnson and Mclaren are currently in the Brevard County Jail.
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