I know everyone has done it. Had your pups in the car while you quickly ran into the bank or to buy some milk from the local convenience store. But this year, the dog days pf summer are here early and it’s time to leave the hounds at home with the air conditioner on. I know they want to come with you, but it’s in their best interest to stay home while you do your errands. Please don’t leave you dog in your car for even a minute during the summer. To do so, could mean certain death to your furry loved ones.

— Kenn Bell, Dog Files Creator

A woman who kept 15 dogs and two cats in a van parked in the sun outside her motel room is being arraigned today on 17 counts of animal cruelty.

Margaret Nickerson-Malpher, 71, was arrested at a Motel 6 in Massachusetts after other guests reported to staff that they had seen a woman carrying what appeared to be a dead dog from her van into her room at around 1 p.m. Nickerson-Malpher had checked in at around 7 a.m., leaving the animals in the vehicle.

Police were notified and arrived on the scene only to find a dozen or so animals struggling to breathe inside the inferno-like van. One of the officers estimated the temperature inside the vehicle to be around 135º F. Three of the dogs were in critical condition, suffering from malnourishment and dehydration.

Inside the motel room, officers found a dog that had indeed died, presumably of heat stroke. The Board of Health and the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (MSPCA) were summoned. They spirited the three seriously ill dogs to a local animal hospital for emergency treatment.

The other dogs and the two cats were given water and treated with ice packs to bring down their body temperatures.

According to Tewksburg, Massachusetts Police Chief Timothy Sheehan, the woman told investigators she had left her summer residence in Topsfield, Maine, around 8 p.m. Monday. She was on her way back home to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, when she stopped at the motel to get some sleep.

Sheehan, however, contends that Maine State Police had been investigating Nickerson-Malpher for animal abuse and were preparing to seize her animals. Nor is this the first brush this woman has had with the law regarding her treatment—or perhaps stated more correctly, mistreatment—of animals.  In 2006, she was charged with animal cruelty, as a result of which 20 dogs and one cat were removed from her home. She was convicted in September of 2010 and sentenced to five years in jail. However, all but 10 days of the sentence was suspended and she was ordered to pay $13,000 in restitution.

During her sentencing, Nickerson-Malpher was also placed on probation for one year and forbidden from owning more than two dogs without permission from the court. Clearly, she is in violation of this order.