(WNY News Now) – A Depew man has been sentenced after pleading guilty to leaving a dog inside a hot vehicle in Cheektowaga, resulting in the animal’s death from heatstroke, according to the Erie County District Attorney’s Office.
Michael J. Keane announced that Daniel J. Kowalczyk, 29, pleaded guilty Thursday morning in Cheektowaga Town Court before Justice John J. Wanat to one count of Confinement of Companion Animals in Vehicles: Extreme Temperatures, a violation under New York State Agriculture and Markets Law.
Kowalczyk was sentenced to a one-year conditional discharge and ordered to pay $225 in fines.
The charge stems from an incident on Sept. 16, 2025, when Cheektowaga Police Department responded to a parking lot in the 2500 block of Walden Avenue after receiving a report of a deceased dog inside a vehicle.
Investigators said the defendant left a 3-year-old Bulldog named “Goon” inside a cage in the rear cargo area of a parked vehicle for more than an hour during the afternoon. A necropsy later determined the dog died from heatstroke caused by impaired thermal regulation.
Prosecutors requested that the court issue a lifetime securing order preventing Kowalczyk from owning or caring for animals. The court instead issued a one-year securing order.
Keane credited Chief Officer Lindsey Wood of SPCA Serving Erie County, Officer Dennis Kusak, Officer Christopher Wierzbowski, and Cheektowaga Animal Control for their work on the investigation.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Megan E. Mahoney of the Erie County Animal Cruelty Unit.
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