THE owner of a dog that had to be euthanised due to heat exhaustion is facing criminal charges after allegedly leaving it in his car for two-and-a-half hours while he attended court on other matters.

Bystanders called police about 11am yesterday after spotting it and a second dog visibly distressed and panting inside a red sedan parked in full sunlight on Wharf St as the mercury hit 36C.

One onlooker tried to give water to the animals through a small gap in the window before a council officer arrived to free them.

Cairns woman Kim Cassidy saw the car as she drove past and thought there may be a dog inside when she saw the window partially down.

media_camera QUESTIONS: Police talk to the owner of the vehicle, Graham John Oakes, after the exhausted dogs were found. PICTURE: THE CAIRNS POST

She said she was horrified to find the two dogs, one male and one female, inside and panting heavily.

“I was trying to put a bowl through the window and give them water,” she said at the scene.

“We’ve been here for an hour in 36-degree heat.

“It’s hard to know there is nothing you can do about it.”

Cairns Regional Council chief executive Peter Tabulo said police had been advised the dogs were dangerous which was why the council officer was called in.

He said the female canine had been aggressive when the officer arrived, while the male was showing “clear signs” of heat exhaustion.

“Both were taken immediately to the vet and unfortunately at the pound later on, the male dog was euthanised from heat exhaustion,” he said.

“The female dog is still in care.”

Police waited beside Graham John Oakes’ vehicle until he returned from court yesterday and took him into custody.

media_camera BID TO HELP: Police officers give water to two dogs found trapped in a car for more than two hours on Wharf St in the Cairns CBD. PICTURE: THE CAIRNS POST

The Cairns Post understands he had been appearing on a charge of wilful damage after he allegedly bent a windscreen wiper during an argument in Earlville last month.

Late yesterday the 60-year-old was also charged with two counts of animal cruelty and is scheduled to appear in the Cairns Magistrates Court on January 22.

Far North RSPCA inspector Richard Wright said given the outside temperature, it was likely the car was 50 degrees inside.

He said heat exhaustion was a particularly cruel and painful way for both humans and animals to die as their organs begin to shut down.

“It would be very excruciating for them,” he said.

“Would you do that to a person? Why do that to an ­animal?”

He said he had received multiple calls with similar complaints in recent weeks as temperatures heated up.

“With the extreme temperatures we’re experiencing at the moment it can take only six minutes for a dog to die if left in a vehicle,” he said.