Video: Clearwater police smash window to rescue distressed dog from hot car while owner 'was at the beach'

CLEARWATER, Fla. - A woman is facing animal cruelty charges after police say she left a dog in a hot car at Clearwater Beach earlier this week. 

Clearwater police went to the Pier 60 parking lot around 4:45 p.m. on Tuesday to investigate a report of an animal in distress. 

Upon arrival, the officers found a pitbull sitting in the backseat of a vehicle that was parked in the sun. 

According to the Clearwater Police Department, the windows were cracked about 2–3 inches, which was not enough for appropriate airflow. 

Clearwater police smashed a car's window in a beach parking lot to rescue a pitbull that was left inside. Courtesy of the Clearwater Police Department. 

The outside air temperature was about 90 degrees at the time. 

The officers said the dog was panting and seemed to be in distress. Police say the dog appeared to be falling asleep and was sweating profusely. 

READ: Report finds 'urgent need' for prevention against child hot car deaths

Bodycam video shows an officer smashing the car's window and unlocking the doors, so another officer could help the dog out of the vehicle. 

After freeing the dog, police gave it water from their thermos. Courtesy: Clearwater Police Department. 

After freeing the dog, the officers gave it water from a thermos in their car. 

The officers say that while there was a small amount of water in the car, it was not enough and was warm to the touch. 

Police say Marie Rutherford, 40, of Nashville, Tennessee, admitted to being the dog’s owner and said she left the dog in the car while she went to the beach. 

Marie Rutherford mugshot courtesy of the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office. 

According to an affidavit, Rutherford said she assumed the dog would be fine because she left some water for it. 

The dog was in the vehicle for about 30–40 minutes, according to police, but the owner had paid for more than two hours of parking. 

The dog was treated at a local vet and then taken to animal control. Sherry Silk, the CEO of the Humane Society of Tampa Bay, said leaving your dog in a hot car for even a few minutes at this time of year in Florida can be too long.

"Do not take your dogs anywhere, because you may be running into a store thinking you're only going to be there for five minutes, but it doesn't take long for that car to really heat up," Silk said. "And if you get caught up in something, and you're there an extra ten minutes, animals die. Dogs start convulsing. They suffer from heat stroke. That does brain damage and ultimately death."

Silk said leaving water in the hot car for your dog doesn’t help them cool down when temperatures are this high.

This isn't the first case for the Humane Society of Tampa, though. Silk said they’ve already seen several cases of animals coming into their hospital with heat-related illnesses this season.

She encourages owners not to bring their dogs anywhere if they can’t take them out of the car with them.

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