California man arrested for leaving puppy with mouth taped shut in hot car outside Las Vegas casino

A California man has been arrested in Las Vegas for leaving his puppy in a parked car outside of a casino in 113-degree heat for nearly two hours with its mouth taped shut, police said Thursday.

Raul Carbajal, 50, of Corona Del Mar, was arrested on July 20 for “willful, malicious torture of an animal,” according to a statement published on Twitter by police. Police released video Thursday of authorities rescuing the puppy from Carbajal’s car.

The video shows police putting Carbajal in handcuffs and checking on the 3-month-old husky, who had been in the car with no air conditioning, food or water, according to police. The puppy’s mouth was taped shut with electrical tape, according to the police report.

Carbajal was reportedly gambling in the casino during this time.

Around 3 p.m., police were dispatched to the parking garage of the Bellagio hotel on the 3600 block of South Las Vegas Boulevard following reports of an animal in distress, authorities said.

Security personnel at the casino had spotted the puppy inside the locked vehicle on the top level of the parking garage, which has “no protection from the sun and is in direct sunlight.”

The peak temperature that day reached 113 degrees, according to police. The temperature inside the vehicle was about 108 degrees, according to the police report.

Security rescued the dog through the vehicle’s sunroof.

Las Vegas police urge residents not to leave people or animals in hot cars under any circumstances.