Police: Dog dies after being left in hot car while woman shopped, ate at Oakbrook Center Mall

A Glen Ellyn woman is charged with cruel treatment to animals after her dog died when she left it in her car to go shopping at Oakbrook Center Mall, police said.

Mary Raugstad Smith, 60, of the 100 block of North Main Street, was released on a bond requiring no payment. A court date has not been determined, according to court records.

Mall security called police about 7:48 p.m. Thursday after seeing the dog in distress in Smith's locked white Mercedes.

“(Smith) stated to officers she did some shopping and then went to dinner, forgetting about the dog,” Officer Garrett Church said Friday. “She was in the mall for a few hours.”

Police said the vehicle was parked, unoccupied and turned off at a time when the heat index outside the vehicle was about 83 degrees. Church said the car's windows were closed and foggy when officers entered the vehicle and took the medium-sized brown dog to the VCA Arboretum View Animal Hospital in Downers Grove, where it was pronounced dead at 8:30 p.m.

Church said officers did not know the breed or name of the dog. The core body temperature of the dog at the time of death was greater than 109 degrees, he said.

“Every year we alert people to the danger of leaving children or pets inside cars in the summer.

“The temperature inside a vehicle climbs approximately 43 degrees in just an hour,” Oak Brook Police Chief James Kruger said in a written statement. “There is no reason to take your pet out in extreme heat without adequate air conditioning and water.”