A Salem woman was arrested after she allegedly confronted police about a dog left in a hot car over the weekend.
Salem witch and animal rights activist Lorelei Stathopolous said she found the dog in a parked car outside a friend’s shop Sunday night. She said the dog was in the car for 10 to 20 minutes and the temperatures reached 90 degrees that day, so she called police. Around the same time, the dog’s owner came back to the car but Stathopolous wouldn’t let him leave.
Once officers arrived, they said they determined the dog was not in any danger, saying the dog had its head out a window. Stathopolous then allegedly told officers they should call animal control or firefighters to better assess the situation. She allegedly told police if they would not arrest they owner they should arrest her, so they did.
“I asked them to please call the fire department, they refused to,” she said. “I ask for water, they refused to. I tried to and the dog was so distressed he wouldn’t take the water. Then I begged them to please take the dog outside the car becausee it had been going on 20 minutes.”
Stathopolous was arraigned in court Tuesday morning on a charge of disturbing the peace and released on personal recognizance.
“I want to educate people not to leave their animals in the car,” said Stathopolous, who added the police officer was not “educated enough” about what to do with animals in hot cars.
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