HIGH RIDGE, Mo. (KMOX) - Two dogs died inside a hot car just outside of St. Louis County on Wednesday. The owner of the German shepherd and Labrador retriever left the car running and the A/C on while attending a class to be a dog trainer, but the car reportedly ran out of gas.
The Tom Rose School is located in High Ridge, just south of St. Louis County. Owner Tom Rose is one of the top trainers in America, personally training and supervising the training of well over 300 dogs per year, according to the company's website.
"Apparently the car quit running and in a very short period of time, she had two dogs that expired," Rose tells KMOX.
Rose says police weren't called because it was just an accident and there was no reason to call authorities.
He says the hour-long presentation ran a bit longer than expected and the dogs were dead when the owner came back out to the car. It happened around 3 p.m.
Rose believes the car ran out of gas and it all happened very quickly.
"I was talking to someone who said they went by the car approximately 20 to 30 minutes before, maybe not even that long, and the car was running and everything was fine," Rose says.
Temperatures reached the low 90s on Wednesday afternoon, according to the National Weather Service. The average temperature inside a car runs 19 degrees hotter and continues to get 10 degrees hotter every 10 minutes, experts say.
Rose says he sees police officers often leave their dogs in their cars with the A/C running and he worries the same thing could happen to them.
In light of the tragedy in High Ridge, the Humane Society of Missouri shared its annual Warm Weather Pet Safety Tips: