ANIMAL NEGLECT: Urbandale Man Charged

For weeks we’ve warned you about the dangers of leaving pets outside during the heat wave.  Police say one Urbandale man did not heed those warnings, and his dog died a horrible death because of it.

“This dog had no way to escape the heat.” explains Urbandale Police Officer Randy Peterson,  “Had no doghouse.  Didn’t have any kind of shelter or anything like that. It was there in the heat with the sun beating down…and he just didn’t have a chance.”

Police say 18-year old Luis Lara-Leyva left his dog outside his of Urbandale home in an un-enclosed kennel during the peak of the heat wave with no water. The heat, according to a postmortem examination, killed the German shepherd pup.  Lara-Leyva is charged with animal neglect and could face up to 30-days in jail, but likely will only be fined.  Authorities say in this case the punishment does not fit the crime.

 ”That type of a crime, there’s a lot of people that think that should be stiffer.  Ind I’m one of them.” says Animal Control Services Manager Josh Colvin, “When it comes to an animal dying because of that neglect, yeah, I think there should be stiffer penalties for that crime.  And the death was because of neglect and somebody didn’t  take care of that dog.”

We did talk with Lara-Leyva on the phone.  He refused to be interviewed on camera and also did not offer an explanation or an apology.