Woman Convicted of Animal Cruelty in Lewis County After Injured Dog Left in Hot Car Dies

Posted

The owner of an injured chihuahua that died after it was left in a hot car parked at a Centralia grocery store in May was convicted of second-degree animal cruelty in Lewis County Superior Court on Friday.

The defendant, Crystal A. Lopez, 44, of Glendale, California, was accused in August of leaving the chihuahua in the car along with two other dogs and two birds on May 22.

An officer with the Centralia Police Department responded to a call from the store’s parking lot, located in the 1100 block of Harrison Avenue, about the animals at approximately 11:29 a.m. that day, according to court documents.

When the officer arrived, he noted the car’s windows were closed and the “animals appeared to be in distress.”

The officer noted it was about 70 degrees outside and the sun was shining, “which made the interior of the car much hotter.”

According to the officer’s report, a small pit bull that was “panting heavily and looked distressed” was sitting next to a cage containing two birds “that appeared to be lethargic as they clung to the upside-down perches.”

The cage was on its side and there did not appear to be “any water in the birdcage or any water in the car where the dog had access to it,” according to court documents.

Also in the car were two chihuahuas: a brown one that was “panting heavily and barking” and  “looked very distressed in the heat,” and a white one curled up on the front passenger floorboard.

The white chihuahua was “drenched in sweat,” appeared to be “barely breathing” and had a “bloody wound” on its neck, according to the officer, who wrote, “The white chihuahua appeared to be suffering and did not have enough strength to even open its eyes.”

The brown chihuahua was reportedly jumping and pouncing on the white chihuahua “in what appeared to be an attempt to wake it up.”

The officer reportedly went into the store twice and attempted to contact the animals’ owner over the PA system. The officer was “getting ready to break the window” when the owner, identified as Lopez, came out of the store, according to court documents.



The officer instructed Lopez to roll the windows down and start the car’s air conditioning. Lopez reportedly replied by saying “she was from California and that it’s colder here in Washington,” saying “she thought the animals looked fine, notwithstanding the obvious distress,” according to court documents.

The white chihuahua, identified in court documents as Chola, was ultimately transported to an Olympia Pet Emergency for emergency medical treatment. The veterinarian who treated the dog noted she “had several broken teeth, blood clots in her mouth, swelling under her jaw and a large wound in her neck” and noted the injuries likely occurred within the last eight hours, according to court documents.

Given the age of the injuries, the officer inferred Lopez “left Chola in the car, in that condition, knowing that she needed medical attention and not providing it,” according to court documents.

The veterinarian began treating Chola for her injuries, but advised the officer the dog would need surgery for the wound in her neck. At 5 p.m. that same day, the veterinarian informed law enforcement that Chola died due to her injuries.

Lopez was initially charged in August with one count of first-degree animal cruelty, a class C felony punishable by up to five years in prison, but the charge has since been reduced to second-degree animal cruelty, a gross misdemeanor with a maximum penalty of 364 days in prison.

“I knowingly failed to provide my dog with the necessary shelter, rest, space and/or medical attention, and my dog suffered unnecessarily and unjustifiably as a result,” wrote Lopez in her guilty plea, which was submitted on Sept. 30. “Specifically, in Lewis County, I left my dog in the car with the windows rolled up on a day when the temperature was very hot, and the heat in the car caused my dog to suffer. The dog later died as a result.”

Lopez entered her guilty plea and was sentenced shortly before her hearing had been scheduled to begin Friday afternoon.

A judge suspended her 364-day jail sentence for 24 months, meaning that she does not have to serve jail time so long as she obeys her conditions of release for the full 24-month suspension period.

Her conditions include paying a $427 veterinary bill to Olympia Pet Emergency, paying a $500 victim’s assessment fee and having no criminal law violations or animal-related infractions.

Lopez paid the veterinary bill in full ahead of her hearing on Friday, according to court documents.