Man charged with animal cruelty after dogs left in hot car, police say

2 dogs, puppy expected to be OK

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Daytona Beach police arrested a man on animal cruelty charges after they say he left three dogs in a hot car at the Volusia Mall.

Edgar Marcial, 27, was arrested on Wednesday in the incident outside the Books A Million store at the mall.

Police were called to the store at 12:44 p.m., where they found three dogs, one of whom was unconscious, in a Jeep Grand Cherokee with the rear windows opened an inch.

"We did a temperature reading in there after we got the dogs out and it was 106.7 degrees. It was much hotter when we got in there. The dogs were definitely in distress," said an officer on body cam video.

Daytona Wrecker opened the jeep, while animal control officers brought the dogs to safety. Police said one dog was unconscious and the other was severely sweating.

Police waited almost an hour for Marcial, of New York, to come out and explain the dog's condition.

"He was in obvious distress, especially considering that he urinated himself as soon as he got out. He fell out and collapsed," said the officer.

The officer said the puppy was also barely strong enough to move.

"He's lucky to be alive right now. It didn't move while we were here the whole time until we got it out of the car. Puppy was soaking wet."

Police arrested Marcial and booked him into Volusia County jail.

Halifax Humane Society is caring for the dogs and said they are doing fine. The dogs will be in their care until Marical's next court date, to see if he gets them back.


About the Author:

Loren Korn is a native Texan who joined the News 6 team as a reporter in May 2014. She was born and raised in Houston and graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a degree in Journalism.