SANDUSKY, Ohio — A woman has been arrested and charged with a felony count animal cruelty for locking her pit bull in an overheated car, killing the animal.
Mouheb Askakih, 58, of Sandusky told police that she locked one of her dogs in the backseat of her car as punishment for attacking one of her other dogs, according to the Sandusky Police Department. While the dog was locked in the woman’s car, the outside temperature was 81 degrees.
When officers arrived on the scene they spoke with Askakih before finding a lifeless canine in the backseat of a vehicle. The officers broke the window of the vehicle in order to free the dog, but it was too late. According to police, the dog was stiff and hot to the touch when it was pulled from the vehicle. There was also blood in the vehicle and on the dog’s paws, indicating a struggle to free itself from the heat.
Askakih did have four more dogs in the house, one of which is two years of age, and three others that are six months old. Those four dogs all have been taken to the Erie County Dog Pound.
Askakih is being held without bond and is due to appear in court on Monday.
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