Police Charge Man who Left Dog in Car During Heat Wave with Cruelty

A 51-year-old Foster man has been charged with animal cruelty after he left his mini-Doberman Pincher in his car during a blistering heatwave while he shopped at the Cranston Walmart last week, causing the animal to die.

Police said Francesco Placella reportedly left the 5-year-old dog named Bella in his car during the blistering heatwave before 11 a.m. on Tuesday after he was told by a Walmart employee that he could not bring his dog in the store with him while he shopped.

Police were dispatched to the Walmart at 1776 Plainfield Pike for a report of a man yelling and screaming at people as they walked in the parking lot. 

That man was Placella, and he was gone when police arrived. Witnesses said he was upset because his dog died in his car while in the store and drove away in a red Ford station wagon.

About an hour-and-a-half later, Johnston Police contacted Cranston Police to tell them there was a man who brought the unresponsive dog to a PETSMART in that town and when he left, "he threatened to go back to the Walmart and 'shoot the place up,'" said Cranston Police Major Robert W. Ryan.

That man was Placella.

A necropsy later concluded that the dog died from heat exhaustion and video surveillance footage taken at the Walmart showed Placella was in the store shopping for about 43 minutes, "which proved to be too long given the temperatures of the mid-nineties last Tuesday," Ryan said, noting Placella's decision to leave the dog in the car with some water was "a terrible decision."

The dog was taken from Banfield Veterinary Hospital inside the Johnston PETSMART to the RISPCA by Johnston Police, which is where the necropsy was performed.

Placella was taken into custody at his residence this afternoon without incident.

“This was an extremely unfortunate incident and perhaps what makes incidents like this more tragic, is that they are preventable if common sense is utilized," Ryan said. "The animal cruelty laws have been modified to give law enforcement the leverage they need to prosecute these offenders. It is never a good idea to leave an animal or a child in a vehicle for any amount of time, especially during the sweltering temperatures we have been experiencing so far this summer. The Cranston Police Department is committed to the prevention of these tragedies and will continue to prosecute these offenders to the fullest extent provided by law.”