FREDERICKSBURG, Va. (WTVR) – A man from Michigan was arrested after he left his dog inside a hot car while he was inside a Fredericksburg grocery store.
Fredericksburg police’s Natatia L. Bledsoe said 55-year-old John Altena, of Shelby Township, Michigan, was arrested for animal neglect Thursday.
Bledsoe said an officer was called to the Wegmans in the 1000 block of Gordon Shelton Blvd around 10 a.m. after someone reported a dog left inside in a car.
The store paged the owner, who came outside.
The officer said that the the dog was in distress, but did not need emergency care.
As a result, the dog was left with the Altena and he was released. However, the officer told him that he must keep the car’s AC running if he leaves the dog in the car again.
Altena told the officer he was in Virginia temporarily for work.
