Dog walker jailed for killing two dogs by leaving them in 47C roasting car on hottest day of year

A DOG walker has been jailed for 18-weeks after a court heard she killed TWO of her clients' dogs by leaving them in a car on one of the hottest days of the year.

Christine Carpenter, 55, left two spaniels she was paid to walk in the boot of her car as temperatures soared to a deadly 29C on July 21, 2021.


She did this despite the Met Office issuing the UK's first ever extreme heat warning the day before the poor pups were cooked to death.

In 29C heat – the car would have been around 47C inside.

The animals – a King Charles Cavalier named Poppie and a cross called Pixie – were dead 'within minutes', the Southampton court heard.

On later examination by a vet, their internal temperatures were found to be almost 43C – compared to the usual of 38C to 39C.

The court heard the true reading was likely even higher, as this was the maximum temperature the thermometer could record.

Owners company director Roy Narbey and wife Kate were left 'devastated' by their deaths after leaving them in the care of someone they considered a 'friend'.

The court heard Carpenter picked the dogs up at about 12.30pm from Roy and Kate Narbey's modern, semi-detached home in Ringwood, Hampshire.

Sarah Wheadon, prosecuting, said Mrs Narbey told Carpenter to take the dogs for just a 'half hour quick walk' because it was so hot.

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Carpenter, also from Ringwood, charged £15 for two hours and with her own rescue dog drove to the nearby Kingston Great Common nature reserve, where there is a stream they could swim in.

Once the dogs had been for a walk and a dip they got back into her car and she let them out in her garden.

Carpenter said she put Poppy and Pixie in her car with the windows open, then went back inside to get her phone when she felt unwell and had a wash.

She then locked the house and went outside, but went back inside to grab a shopping bag as she was planning to go to the supermarket.

It was then that Carpenter found the dogs unable to breathe, lying down and not moving.

Carpenter said she was "not sure" how long the dogs – aged 11 and five – had been in the car.

The court heard Mrs Narbey became 'concerned' when Carpenter still had not returned her dogs by 5.30pm, as she had an appointment to go to.

She tried calling but had no reply so texted the dog walker asking where she was – when Mrs Narbey's appointment finished at 6.15pm she was 'getting worried' as she still had not heard from Carpenter.

She said 'I'm panicking because I can't wake the girls up' – at that point Mrs Narbey screamed at her and said you need to get to the vets

The court heard she called again and this time Carpenter picked up the phone and asked 'were you worried about me?'.

Ms Wheadon said: "Things didn't sound or feel right [to Mrs Narbey]. Her voice was a bit shaky so she asked what's wrong.

"She said 'I'm panicking because I can't wake the girls up'. At that point Mrs Narbey screamed at her and said you need to get to the vets."

But within minutes of the dogs arriving at the vets, Carpenter was told the dogs were 'gone'.

She told the vet "I only left them for a minute, I love them like they are my own".

Mrs Wheadon, said how Carpenter ran a commercial dog walking business called Chris' Absolute Pets and the Narbey family hired her to walk their two dogs initially one day a week in January 2020 but then two days a week by August 2020.

A veterinary expert who reviewed the case and said the dogs died of 'heat stress, having been exposed to an environment of high temperature'.

AFTERMATH

In a victim impact statement read out in court, Mrs Narbey said: "Since the sudden loss of our dogs, I have changed. I have become withdrawn and lack confidence."

Michael Stocken, defending, said Carpenter 'immediately ceased her business' and was 'traumatised herself as a result of her negligible conduct'.

Carpenter, who trembled and cried in the dock, had previously pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to the animals and failing in her duty to ensure welfare.

District Judge Anthony Callaway sentenced her to 18 weeks imprisonment and disqualified her from owning any animal for eight years.

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He added: "People expect their dogs to be cared for, that clearly didn't happen here… This was a gross breach of trust."

Speaking after the court case, Mr Narbey added: "We wanted her to be banned from keeping or caring for animals but we were shocked when we found out she had been sent to prison. She has a child."

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