Man arrested after dog dies in hot truck, body dumped behind Marion County bar

MARION COUNTY, Ore. (KPTV) - A man was taken into custody after the Marion County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) said he left a dog inside a hot truck, resulting in the animal’s death. The man is accused of dumping the dog’s body behind a bar near Woodburn.

Authorities said the incident occurred Sunday between 11:20 a.m. and 2 p.m. at the Monitor Inn on Woodburn Monitor Road NE.

Surveillance footage from the bar captured a white pickup truck pulling into the parking lot. A man was driving with a woman in the passenger seat, and a dog sitting in the back.

Monitor Inn staff believe the dog was a chocolate Labrador retriever named Taco.

According to Monitor Inn manager Virginia Brockman, the man and woman spent about 2 and a half hours inside the bar drinking and gambling.

Unbeknownst to bar staff, the dog remained inside the vehicle the entire time.

Investigators said outside temperatures ranged from 88 to 93 degrees.

Surveillance footage later showed the man exiting the bar, hauling the dog’s body out of the vehicle and disposing of it in the yard of the business.

That evening, Brockman said a bartender called to alert her about the lifeless Labrador lying in the grass. It wasn’t until she reviewed the surveillance footage that she realized a customer had left the dog there.

“I’ve had animals too. You don’t do that to an animal. It’s like leaving your kid in a carseat. And then to abandon it is just unacceptable,” said Brockman.

Brockman turned the surveillance video over to the Marion County Sheriff’s Office and investigators launched an animal cruelty investigation. Authorities sought the public’s help through social media to identify the man and woman seen in the footage.

On Tuesday, investigators identified both people in the video. At about 3 p.m., deputies arrested 32-year-old Daniel West. He was booked into the Marion County Jail on one count of first-degree animal neglect. According to MCSO, West cooperated with investigators.

The woman who was with him was not arrested, but the Marion County District Attorney’s Office is reviewing potential charges.

Brockman said her staff is heartbroken. She said had they known a dog was inside the hot vehicle, they would have stepped in to help.

“They could have brought the dog back here, and ran some water. We have a hose. We would have done anything to save the dog,” said Brockman.

Brockman said she arranged for the dog to be properly buried.

According to DoveLewis Veterinary Emergency & Specialty Hospital, temperatures inside a closed vehicle can exceed 120 degrees within minutes on a mild to hot day.

“A vehicle is essentially a greenhouse so the temperature inside a vehicle heats up very quickly. Children and pets in particular do not regulate their body temperature very well. And so they are in extreme danger in literally just minutes,” said Amber Rollins, executive director of Kids and Car Safety.

Kids and Car Safety is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to preventing injuries and deaths of children and pets in and around motor vehicles.

According to Rollins, many child and pet hot-car deaths happen when people simply forget a child or an animal is in the vehicle.

The nonprofit advises people to check the back seat every time they leave their vehicle.

One tip Rollins recommends for parents and pet owners is to keep a stuffed animal in the front seat.

“Anytime you buckle the baby in the backseat or put the pet back there, you can bring that stuffy up front in your lap as a visual and physical cue that they’re back there,” said Rollins.

MCSO is actively investigating this case.