Clover woman charged after dogs left in hot car at Piedmont Medical Center

A woman left two dogs in her car at Piedmont Medical Center for more than an hour Wednesday while outside temperatures hovered around 95 degrees, according to Rock Hill Police.

A passerby called police to the parking lot of Piedmont Medical Center about 4 p.m. after seeing two dogs in a red car.

“The windows were barely cracked and the dogs were obviously overheated,” the report states. “The two dogs continually whined and panted while acting lethargic.”

The anonymous passerby told officers she waited for the owner more than half an hour before calling police. An officer entered the unlocked car and gave the dogs water, then put them into his patrol car.

It was about 95 degrees outside at the time and “felt much hotter” inside the car, police said. The date on the car’s paper plate had been “visibly erased” and written over with a false date, and when contacted, the dealership told police they hadn’t sold that vehicle.

The hospital paged the owner, 21-year-old Fealicie Renee Smith, of Clover who met officers in the parking lot more than an hour and a half after the passerby called police, the report states. Smith told officers the vehicle was never registered and was not insured.

Smith, who also had a suspended license for failure to pay a traffic ticket, was charged with cruelty to animals, operating an uninsured vehicle, failure to register a vehicle and driving under suspension. She was placed in the Rock Hill city jail, where she remained Thursday under $1,092 bond.

The dogs were confiscated by York County Animal Control.

This story was originally published September 3, 2015 at 10:25 AM with the headline "Clover woman charged after dogs left in hot car at Piedmont Medical Center."