Overview

• Two Bridgewater residents aged 59 and 32 were charged with animal cruelty and confinement in a motor vehicle causing exposure to extreme heat after police linked them to the deaths of two dogs left in a closed car.
• Emergency calls on July 16 led officers to a Heather Lane condo where two medium-sized dogs were found dead next to a vehicle that reached at least 130°F.
• Bridgewater Animal Control’s necropsy at a local animal medical center confirmed heat exposure as the cause of death, and investigators also uncovered unsanitary conditions inside the women’s home.
• Each woman will be summoned to Brockton District Court for arraignment on charges of cruelty to animals and confining pets in extreme heat.
• Massachusetts law permits Good Samaritans to rescue animals from overheating vehicles without penalty, reflecting efforts to curb preventable hot car fatalities.