Niagara Regional Police arrested a 39-year-old man from Whitby on Saturday, after rescuing a dog left inside a hot car at the Outlet Collection at Niagara mall.

Police responded to a complaint at about 5:30 p.m. and found a small white dog in a parked vehicle.

“The dog appeared to be in distress displaying heavy panting and barking, drawing the attention of members of the public. Police were contacted to attend due to the high temperatures and the dog starting to show signs of suffering,” police said in a media release Monday.

“The dog was attempting to exit the vehicle at different windows consistently, and appeared to be in extreme distress. After not being able to contact the driver, police broke the driver’s side window.”

The owner of the vehicle, Jeyapragash Pulendrarajah, showed up a “short time” later and was charged with causing unnecessary suffering to an animal.