Nursery worker called 311 about live dogs in car

Animal Welfare says a control officer who answered the call couldn’t find the vehicle

An employee at an Albuquerque nursery who called police last week to report that five dogs were in a locked car had reported the situation hours earlier to 311 and the city’s Animal Welfare Department.

According to a criminal complaint, the employee called the city’s 311 help-line at around 1 p.m. last Wednesday to report the animals, which were all alive at that time. When no one from the city intervened, the police were called at around 4:20 p.m. and arrived around 25 minutes later.

By that time, it was too late — all five of the dogs were dead.

A spokeswoman for the city’s Animal Welfare Depart-

ment said an animal control officer received the call and attempted to locate the vehicle but could not find it.

“According to the officer, he tried to reach the complainant for more information,” Desiree Cawley wrote in an email on Thursday.

Cawley’s email did not indicate what those efforts entailed.

Her email also did not indicate what information the caller provided to 311, which is intended to be used in non-emergency situations.

In the days since, Cawley said Mayor Tim Keller instructed the department to conduct an investigation into the incident.

“After this tragic incident, we told Animal Welfare to get to the bottom of what occurred,” Keller spokeswoman Alicia Manzano said on Thursday. “We were also grateful that APD was able to promptly identify and locate the person who appears to be responsible.”

Sara Mauter, 31, was apprehended last weekend in Phoenix after a routine traffic stop and extradited to Albuquerque. She has yet to be booked into the Metropolitan Detention Center.

She faces five counts of extreme cruelty to animals, a fourth-degree felony in New Mexico.

Mauter had been hired by the animals’ owner through a craigslist ad to transport them to the owner’s new home in Texas, but Mauter allegedly left the rented SUV in an alley with its hazard lights on.

Safety at risk

Could bystanders or witnesses have done more to help the animals?

City ordinance states that police “or any officer or agent thereof” may use whatever force is reasonably necessary to remove a child or animal from a vehicle if their safety is at risk.

“It does not mean a civilian can act on behalf of APD under this policy,” APD spokesman Gilbert Gallegos wrote in an email.

The city and state do not have so-called “hot car laws” that allow civilians to break into a vehicle to rescue an endangered animal without fear of criminal or civil penalties.

Lora Dunn, an attorney with the Animal Legal Defense Fund, said those laws typically require civilians to take other steps before breaking into a vehicle, including calling law enforcement and attempting to locate the vehicle’s owner.

“We would encourage New Mexico to take up the cause and help protect animals in vehicles this summer,” Dunn said.