A woman in Florida has been arrested after leaving three dogs to die in a hot car before dumping them in a canal where they are thought to have been eaten by alligators.

The incident took place in Palm Beach County in Florida, with the 54-year-old woman being arrested over the weekend after leaving the dogs in her car, where they died of heat exhaustion.

Tammy Garceau then reportedly called the Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office (PBSO) on Saturday, 12th August, claiming that the animals, which she had been watching for a friend, had been stolen from her car.

But a witness living across the street from her home in Lake Worth, told the police that she saw the woman leaving the dogs in the parked car for a long time.

Temperatures reached 92 degrees Fahrenheit (33.3 degrees Celsius) that day, with Garceau reportedly not wanting the dogs inside her house.

The witness told the police that the suspect had tried calling the dogs down a water hose before resorting to dumping them.

Garceau eventually showed the police the location of the three dogs.

One of them had been dumped in a wooded area, while the other two were dumped by a canal.

The dog bodies were not recovered, according to the police, with the arrest report stating that it was “likely that an alligator ate them”.

Garceau was booked into the Palm Beach County Jail on three counts of animal cruelty, unlawful abandonment and unlawful disposal of bodies, before being released on a USD 9,000 (GBP 7,061) bond.