Man locks puppy in car for hours with its mouth taped shut in Las Vegas heat while he gambles in air-conditioned casino: Report

Security guards at a Las Vegas casino averted disaster last week when they rescued a puppy who had been left trapped in a car for hours on the rooftop of a parking garage in the middle of the afternoon. Its mouth had allegedly been taped shut.

On July 20, Las Vegas Metro Police Department said that officers received a call from security at the Bellagio on the Las Vegas Strip at approximately 3 p.m. local time to report that a Husky puppy had been discovered in a car parked on the rooftop deck of the casino parking garage. Security guards were able to rescue the puppy, estimated to be three months old, by bringing it out through the sunroof of the vehicle. The dog had reportedly been left unattended with the windows up, no water or air conditioning, and with tape over its mouth.

Once police arrived, a witness told them that there had been "a lot of saliva” on the dog when it was first extracted from the car and that “he wasn’t able to breathe.”

Shortly after their arrival, Raul Carbajal, 50, of Corona Del Mar in Southern California, appeared on the scene and admitted to police that he owned the vehicle in which the dog had been found. Carbajal was immediately placed under arrest for willful and malicious torture of an animal.

LVMPD has since released the bodycam footage of the arrest:

"You're going to jail on a felony for willful endangerment of an animal," an officer can be heard telling Carbajal. "[Do you] realize how hot it is outside? You had the vehicle off, the windows up, and you had tape around your dog's mouth."

In a series of tweets, LVMPD also claimed that dog had been in the car in that condition for two hours while Carbajal went gambling in the air conditioning. The high temperature in Las Vegas that day was 113 degrees.

"NOTE: *DO NOT LEAVE PEOPLE OR ANIMALS IN HOT CARS. PERIOD,*" LVMPD reminded all readers.

According to ABC News via MSN, the husky puppy is still in the care of animal control and is receiving medical treatment.