Michel Guite is the CEO of Vermont Telephone Company. He is seen in Springfield, Vt., on Thursday, November 13, 2014. (Valley News - James M. Patterson) Copyright Valley News. May not be reprinted or used online without permission. Send requests to permission@vnews.com.

Michel Guite, the president of Vermont Telephone Company, stands outside his home in Springfield, Vt., in November 2014. At right is Cody, his Australian shepherd, the subject of an animal cruelty complaint that Guite is contesting. Guite, whose principal residence is in Greenwich, Conn., said the dog was in no danger of overheating when he left Cody in his SUV in a parking garage in Stamford, Conn., last month while he ate dinner. (Valley News - James M. Patterson) Copyright Valley News. May not be reprinted or used online without permission. Send requests to permission@vnews.com.

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The president of Vermont Telephone Co. is contesting the basis for an animal cruelty charge he faces in Stamford, Conn., asserting that his dog was in no danger of overheating when he left the Australian shepherd in his SUV while dining at a restaurant last month.

Michel Guite, 73, who lives in nearby Greenwich, Conn., had parked his vehicle in a parking garage with the windows rolled up on the evening of July 22 before attending dinner at a restaurant in Stamford Town Center for about 90 minutes, police said.

Guite doesn’t dispute those details, he said in a telephone interview this week.

But what he does dispute is that the SUV had reached an unsafe temperature and that the dog, named Cody, was in any danger.

“It was a misunderstanding and it was an unfortunate misunderstanding because it got out of hand,” Guite said, adding that several police officers and the fire department responded to the scene. “I think cruelty to animals should be met with the most severe penalties. I am completely in favor that. But that’s not what this was.”

It was 73 degrees outside that evening with 91 percent humidity, according to police, and Guite said he purposefully parked the SUV in the underground portion of the parking garage so there was no sun or heat source to increase the temperature inside the SUV.

He then knowingly left the windows up to prevent the cold air that was inside the car when he turned it off from escaping, he said. Guite said he deliberately had been running the air conditioning in the vehicle before parking.

“It isn’t true that all closed vehicles are necessary dangerously hot,” Guite said. “It is true that all closed vehicles in the sunlight or in the shade when the sun is up or under clouds or trees become really hot. But without an exterior source of heat, there is not a way for (the vehicle) to become hotter.”

In Connecticut — and in Vermont and New Hampshire — it is illegal to leave a dog confined to a vehicle in conditions that could harm the health or safety of the animal.

Connecticut law more specifically states that cruelty is defined as anyone who confines an animal and “fails to give such animal proper care ... or fails to supply any such animal with wholesome air, food and water.”

The Stamford Advocatereported that Guite didn’t leave the dog any water.

The case began when a concerned citizen called police and alerted them to the situation, Stamford, Conn., Lt. Nicholas Montagnese said this week.

“(There was) no ventilation; it was hot,” Montagnese said.

The police and fire departments responded, and a firefighter attempted to gain entry to the vehicle but stopped when the dog became excited, Guite said.

Officials then waited for Guite to get back to the SUV. Police arrested him on a single count of animal cruelty.

Guite, who stays in Springfield, Vt., near VTel headquarters when working in the state, hopes the state will dismiss the charge.

He has not formally entered a plea, according to a court clerk, and said he hopes the case is dissolved at an Aug. 31 hearing.

In Connecticut, the offense is punishable by up to a year in prison, a $1,000 fine or both.

“I am trying to turn it into a positive event, recognizing the police and fire department all tried their 100 percent best to protect Cody’s best interests, and while they are well-trained to be sensitive to closed cars in sun being extremely dangerous, there was simply one narrow gap in their training,” Guite said by email. “A closed car or truck can be safer, better, when you want to retain warmth in winter, or when you want to retain cool in summer, if the hot sun is not in the equation. I want to help make sure that decent emergency personnel in CT, or anywhere, who care about dogs — one of the firemen had owned an Australian shepherd — get 100 percent support and training for their important work. This was a well-intentioned small error.”

Guite is well-known in Vermont, both as head of the company that was awarded $116 million in federal stimulus funds to expand high-speed internet service and for waging a three-year legal battle in a successful effort to move an ancient cemetery in Hartland to clear the way for a potential home site.

In the Connecticut case, Guite — who holds a PhD from Stanford University — said he is now championing efforts to get the message out that not all closed vehicles are dangerous to animals. He said he has been in conversation with a state legislator and the head of public safety for Stamford, Conn.

He also is working to put together an educational video that explains the dangers of hot cars, but highlights that “with no sun, such as in a well-ventilated underground parking garage, or late at night, the concerns is less about heat, and more whether the air in the car is clean and wholesome,” he said.

Guite and Cody, which is the same dog featured in a VTel Wireless’ television ad that ran locally during the Super Bowl, travel some 40,000 miles a year together. Guite said traveling without the dog isn’t an option.

Jordan Cuddemi can be reached at jcuddemi@vnews.com or 603-727-3248.