Las Vegas woman charged after leaving dog in hot SUV a second time

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) – Three days after getting her dog back from Clark County Animal Control, a 25-year-old Las Vegas woman is accused of leaving the same dog in the same hot SUV in a second incident.

Alexandra Evans, 25, is being held in the Clark County Detention Center on $3,000 bail, charged with putting the animal — a small white dog named Rio — in danger. Evans is scheduled to appear in court on July 26.

Officers responded to the July 9 call about a dog locked in an SUV outside of a Goodwill store. The dog was reportedly panting heavily and barking. The vehicle was not running and all the windows were rolled up as temperatures hit 111 degrees, according to a police arrest report.

Officers arrived and broke out the front passenger window of the SUV and took the dog out.

Police went inside the store and located Evans, who said she was the owner of the dog. She said she had only been inside for 10 minutes, but that her boyfriend had taken the keys to the SUV.

An animal control officer who responded to the scene recognized Evans and told officers that she had been in a similar incident on June 27.

In that investigation, the dog had been left in the same SUV in front of the Wild Wild West Casino at about 10:20 a.m. Evans was arrested and charged with malicious torture of a dog. Officers determined the interior temperature in the SUV was around 113 when the dog was rescued.

Animal Control took possession of Rio after that.

“On 07/06/21 Evans met with Clark County Animal Control Officers at the Animal Foundation where she reclaimed Rio and was cited by Animal Control for the incident,” according to the arrest report.

The second call to rescue the dog came just three days later outside the Goodwill store.

“Heatstroke for dogs can happen within 15 minutes of exposure to these conditions,” according to the arrest report. “With the outside temperature being at 100 degrees Fahrenheit, it only takes 15 minuets for the inside of a locked vehicle which is not running with air conditioning to reach 140 degrees Fahrenheit.”