WEST PALM BEACH, Fla -- A Florida man is facing drug and animal cruelty charges after police rescued a dog locked in a hot car and stumbled across more than a pound of marijuana.
Two West Palm Beach police officers were on bike patrol Thursday when they saw the animal inside a vehicle in a parking lot with no food or water, the Palm Beach Post reported.
The dog was "panting and breathing heavily" despite the fact that the two front windows were cracked about two inches, according to a police report.
The open windows allowed the cops to smell the "strong odor of marijuana," the report said, and a pot pipe was in plain view in the car's ashtray.
The owner of the car, 40-year-old Raymond Hendry Zerba, returned to his vehicle and told officers he knew he should not have left the dog locked inside, the Post reported.
The officers recovered 478.3 grams (16.87 ounces) of the drug. Zerba said he was a "heavy user" who had purchased it for personal use, according to the police report.
He was charged with possession of marijuana over 20 grams, possession with intent to sell, possession of drug paraphernalia and animal cruelty, and booked into Palm Beach County Jail in lieu of $3,000 bond.
