A DOG owner has been fined after leaving his two lurchers in a hot car for more than seven hours while he went to work.

Police found the dogs frothing at the mouth and there were marks on the windows of Jonathan Lawn’s Vauxhall Astra estate where they had desperately been trying to escape from the boot.

The dogs had been left without food, water, proper ventilation and cover from direct sunlight, on August 6.

Selby magistrates heard that a member of the public alerted the RSPCA to the incident at about 5pm, reporting that the dogs had been in the car, which was parked in direct sunlight in temperatures of about 19 degrees, since 10am.

The RSPCA alerted police, who arrived at 5.20pm and found the dogs in a state of panic.

They considered forcing entry into the car but at around 5.35pm, Lawn, 34, of York Road in Tadcaster, arrived back and let the dogs out.

PC Sarah Ward, of North Yorkshire Police, said: “The car was like a greenhouse and the dogs were effectively baking inside. I wouldn’t have wanted to sit in a car for five minutes in that temperature let alone seven hours and the dogs were clearly in distress.

“The windows had been left open by just one inch, which is clearly inadequate ventilation in such heat.”

Lawn was fined £135 and ordered to pay £85 costs after pleading guilty to offences under Section 9 of the Animal Welfare Act.

PC Ward said: “I hope Lawn and other dog owners see this case as a warning that treating animals in this manner will not be tolerated.”