SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. – A Seminole County man was arrested after his dog died when he left it in a hot vehicle for hours on Sunday, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
FWC officials arrived at the Jolly Gator Fish Camp around 5:30 p.m. after receiving several reports of a dog abandoned inside a truck in the parking lot. The reports also mentioned that the windows were rolled up and the truck was not running.
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Around the same time they arrived, officers said they saw a man, later identified as 62-year-old Jeffrey Willis, returning from the St. Johns River on his airboat.
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Willis identified himself as the owner of the truck after several failed attempts to wake the dog, FWC officials said.
Officers said the dog was unresponsive and did not have a pulse, and they overheard Willis tell a group of people that he had been on the river for about two hours and had forgotten the dog in his truck.
FWC officers arrested Willis, who faces an animal cruelty charge.
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