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Dog in distress honks car horn for help. Ind. officer who came to the rescue adopts her

“I switched her collar, and it was like Abby knew she was home for good,” the Indianapolis Police Department officer said

By Lauren Liebhaber
The Charlotte Observer

INDIANAPOLIS — A dog “left to suffer” in a hot car has a “second chance at happiness” after she was adopted by the police officer who saved her, Indiana authorities said.

Officers were called June 20 to InTown Suites Hotel on a report of a dog left in a vehicle in the parking lot, WISH reported.

The hotel manager heard a horn honking in the parking lot and noticed a German shepherd trapped inside the vehicle, WISH and WTHR reported, citing court documents.

A public safety officer arrived to find three animals – two dogs and one cat – locked in the car with no air conditioning and windows barely cracked, the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department said in a June 29 Facebook post.

Police said it was around 90 degrees outside at the time.

“Tragically, one of the dogs died before officers could get to it,” police said.

According to court records, the hotel manager estimated the animals were in the court for about three hours, WISH reported.

A 74-year-old woman and a 53-year-old man were arrested on animal cruelty charges, the station reported.

The public safety officer on the scene that day reached out to Indianapolis Animal Care Services about adopting Abby, “the resilient German shepherd” who honked the horn, police said.

“I switched her collar, and it was like Abby knew she was home for good,” the officer said.

The department called Abby’s fresh start a “touching display of humanity.”

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