Dog Dies After Being Left in Hot Car at Rhode Island Casino

Posted on: July 17, 2023, 12:19h. 

Last updated on: July 17, 2023, 12:37h.

Ed Silverstein @casinoorgedsilv Read More
Expertise: Legal, Tribal Gaming.

A casino patron was arrested over the weekend after she allegedly left a dog for hours in a sweltering car parked at Rhode Island’s Bally’s Twin River Lincoln casino.

Rhode Island’s Bally's Twin River Lincoln casino
Rhode Island’s Bally’s Twin River Lincoln casino, pictured above. It was the site of a dog perishing after being left in a hot car. (Image: Bally’s)

The dog perished while confined in the vehicle. Police were able to identify the car’s owner as Young Ju Seol of Hopkinton, Mass. She confirmed it was her car and dog.

While on patrol at about 7 p.m. on Friday, casino security guards first noticed Young’s car whose windows were covered with condensation. The brake lights were on too. The guards then notified Lincoln police. An officer arrived and forced open the car only to discover the dead dog on the driver’s side floor, Rhode Island TV station WJAR reported.

Police charged her with one count of malicious injury or killing of animals and a count of animal confinement in motor vehicles. She faces court proceedings.

No Water, No AC

“The dog had been left in the vehicle for several hours without water or air conditioning with the windows closed while temperatures were near 80 degrees,” Lincoln police said in a recent statement. Rhode Island also saw high humidity that evening.

Seol apparently was in the casino for several hours while the dog was in the car.

“The killing of defenseless animals in such a cruel manner is unacceptable and will not be tolerated by our agency,” the police department added in the statement.

Reminder to Pet Owners

The incident reminds pet owners nationwide about the risks to animals from being in a vehicle when temperatures are high or even warm.

On a warm day, temperatures inside a vehicle can rise rapidly to dangerous levels,” Jessica Simpson, public policy specialist at the Humane Society of the United States, previously told Casino.org.

On an 85-degree day, for example, the temperature inside a car with the windows opened slightly can reach 102 degrees within 10 minutes, Simpson said.

“After 30 minutes, the temperature will reach 120 degrees, and the pet may suffer irreversible organ damage, seizures, or die,” she warned.

Prior Incident

Dogs are often left in hot cars while the owners go to play in gaming properties.

A year ago, a four-month-old Siberian Husky puppy was rescued from a sweltering car at the Bellagio parking garage in Las Vegas.

It was on July 20, 2022, when a passerby saw the dog confined in a Mercedes-Benz parked in the direct sunlight at the Bellagio.

Her mouth was taped shut. The temperature in the car was close to 108 degrees. The car was turned off. The windows were up. There was no air conditioning on. The dog did not have access to food or water.

The former owner left the dog for two hours while he went into the casino. The passerby quickly notified Bellagio security who forced open the car and got the dog into an air-conditioned vehicle. They also gave her plenty of water.

The owner was charged with a felony, willful or malicious torture of a dog, Las Vegas TV station KSNV reported. He was identified as Raul Carbajal, 50, of Corona Del Mar, Calif.

It is not immediately known what happened to the court case against him. The dog was placed with another owner.