A one-year-old dog named Parker led Toronto Police on a chase into Gardiner Expressway traffic after being rescued from the backseat of a parked car on Thursday afternoon.
Toronto Police received two separate calls shortly after noon reporting a dog locked in an SUV in the Loblaws parking lot at Jarvis Street and Queens Quay East.
Constable Victor Kwong said officers were able to open the vehicle and leash the 100-pound black and brown brindle Mastiff as they coaxed him out of the car. Almost right away, the dog slipped out of its leash and bolted up the Jarvis off-ramp onto the eastbound Gardiner Expressway. Traffic came to a halt, and Parker took shelter behind a stopped vehicle.
"The dog found the biggest shadow it could climb under and laid under there," Const. Kwong said.
Canine officer Constable Matt Butt was able to re-snare the dog, who was transferred to the care of Toronto Animal Services.
Temperatures climbed to 33.8 degrees by mid-afternoon in Toronto. The city was under an extreme heat alert for the second day in a row, as well as humidex and smog advisories.
The dog showed signs of heat exhaustion received emergency veterinary care but is doing well, said Barbara Steinhoff, manager of communications for Toronto Humane Society.
"Just like people, when you're going through any type of heat exhaustion there tends to be disorientation," she said. "Coupled with all these people coming at him, that probably caused him to run."
Police are still looking to locate the owner of the vehicle, which has out-of-town licence plates.
Const. Kwong said Toronto Police received 152 calls about animal complaints between June 16 and 21. Of those calls, 61 were for animals in distress.