Men Leave Dog To Die Inside Truck That Fell Through Ice In Frozen River, Get Arrested


Police officials in Ocean County, New Jersey, have arrested two people after they apparently drove a pickup truck into a frozen river with their dog inside and soon landed in trouble. According to ABC News, the truck in which the duo were traveling fell through the sheet of ice covering the river and sank to the bottom. While the two men managed to escape, the dog inside the vehicle wasn’t as lucky. According to initial reports, the pickup truck fell through the ice while the men inside the vehicle were doing “donuts” on the frozen river.

Meanwhile, CBS New York reports that the incident happened on the frozen Tom’s River, near Ocean County, town at around 12:15 a.m., local time. Police received an emergency call from an eyewitness from the area soon after the men were seen driving the car onto the frozen river. When responding officers reached the spot, they initially saw the headlights of the vehicle that eventually disappeared. Sensing trouble, a coast guard helicopter was scrambled in, along with a rescue swimmer on board. They found a large hole in the middle of the frozen river and deduced that the truck had fallen through the hole and had sank to the bottom. Fearing casualties, the swimmer was lowered down into the hole. He eventually located the truck. However, since it had tinted windows, he wasn’t able to see if there were people inside the truck. Eventually, the diver managed to pry open the doors of the truck, fearing the worst. However, there were no people inside the vehicle. There was one casualty, though — in the form of a dog. The swimmer found a boxer, dead inside the vehicle. The dog is suspected to belong to one of the people who owned the pickup truck.

A few hours later, two people turned themselves in — taking responsibility for the mishap. Officials from the New Jersey State Police are questioning them at the time of publishing this story. They have however not yet been charged. Meanwhile, officials have not yet been able to tow the sunken pickup truck from the frozen river, owing to dangerous weather conditions near the place where the incident occurred.

The two men who have been arrested have not been identified yet however are facing lot of flak from people for their act of leaving their dog alone inside the car, even as it went under the frozen river. At this moment though, there is no clarity on what caused the mishap and under what circumstances were the people left with no choice but to leave the dog alone inside the truck as it sank.

Do you think the two people should be charged with animal cruelty?

[Image via U.S. Coast Guard]

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