Sacramento firefighters freed a cocker spaniel from parked car Wednesday afternoon. The owners had left it in the Arden Fair Mall parking lot while they did some shopping. Mall security had checked on the dog several times then called firefighters when the car’s interior reached 100°F. Mall security said the spaniel was in distress. They noticed it “panting and sweating profusely.”

Animal control officer John Sorrels fined the couple $200 dollars for leaving an animal unsupervised in a car. Sorrels said, “They could die, they could get heatstroke. We’ll have to break your window out maybe and take your dog and take it to the vet and you may or may not get it back.”

When the couple learned their dog had been taken by mall security they left without it. The couple later returned for it saying they were embarrassed the first time. The couple claims they took precautions including parking in the shade, cracking the windows, and checking on him every 15 minutes. Even so, mall security chief Steve Reed said, “put a fur coat on and sit in a car that’s a 100 degrees – it’s not gonna be very good for you.”