It was a dog day afternoon for nearly two dozen pups trapped in a hot car in The Bronx.
The 22 sweltering canines were found panting, sick and covered in feces Monday afternoon in a parked Mercedes-Benz SUV — along with a 54-year-old woman — on Edison Avenue and Middletown Road in Pelham Bay.
The car reeked by the time cops discovered the car, a sign they had been trapped inside for a while, sources said.
The woman, who cops say is emotionally disturbed, was taken to Montefiore Medical Center for treatment, cops said.
Some of the dogs also required immediate veterinary care.
One 14-to-16-week-old puppy needed treatment for a severe intestinal condition, according to Kim Stein, a coordinator of the Adore-A-Bullie Paws and Claws rescue group, which helped place many of the pups in foster homes.
Another puppy had a condition called “cherry eye,” which made him appear like his eyelid was sticking out of his eye, she said.
And a 5-year-old German Shepherd, the oldest dog in the group, who the shelter named “Big Boy,” was underweight, Stein said.
At least two of the dogs remain at Petchester Veterinary in Eastchester.
Nine other dogs are in foster homes, with Stein fostering one of them.
The remaining dogs are in the care of Bobbi and the Strays, an adoption center in Long Island, Stein said.
Besides the German Shepherd, most of the other dogs are Chihuahua mixes, she said. Many of them are puppies ranging from six weeks to five months old.
Stein said her organization had been receiving calls about the woman driving around the Bronx with dogs in her car. Members of the organization reached out and asked if the woman wanted free vet care and food for the animals, but she declined, Stein said.
“About two weeks ago when we first contacted the woman, she was very skeptical and very much didn’t want us to know where she was,” she said.
Stein said the dogs are now making a speedy recovery.
“Several of them were very fearful at first,” she said. “It’s amazing how quickly they rebound when they realize they’re safe. They are over that original timidness. They’re definitely loved in their foster homes.”
