A man faces animal cruelty charges after authorities reported he left his dog in his car outside Parx Casino near Philadelphia on a warm day last weekend. 

Law enforcement claims that Andrew DeShield, 62, from Bensalem, where Parx is situated about 20 air miles north of Philadelphia’s Center City, left his pit bull mix named Gucci in his car while he was gambling inside Parx for a period of time. Upon arriving at the scene following a call from casino security regarding a dog abandoned in a car, first responders discovered Gucci was suffering from overheating with a body temperature of 108 degrees Fahrenheit. 

Gucci was swiftly taken to an animal hospital nearby. However, when security found DeShield, he hurried to the vet and took the dog without Gucci getting care for heatstroke. The following day, police visited DeShield and discovered Gucci dead in the rear of his vehicle. 

DeShield was apprehended and is still in the Bucks County Correctional Center awaiting $200,000 bail. He faces three felony charges of aggravated animal cruelty resulting in death, as well as multiple misdemeanors for animal cruelty and neglect. The story was first reported by 6ABC. 

In Pennsylvania, an individual convicted of a felony charge for aggravated animal cruelty could be sentenced to a maximum of seven years in prison and may incur fines reaching $15,000. 

Pennsylvania court documents indicate that DeShield had prior felony convictions for drug possession with the intent to manufacture and/or distribute. 

 

Scorching Summer 

2025 has ushered in what seems like an exceptionally hot summer for many areas in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast, particularly Pennsylvania. June was characterized by predominantly warm to hot days and multiple heat waves, one of which happened last week when the unfortunate death of Gucci took place. 

Last Sunday, the temperature in Bensalem was close to 90 degrees. The National Weather Service indicates that a stationary vehicle on a 90-degree day can rapidly hit temperatures of 130 degrees in only an hour.

"Cars can quickly heat up to dangerous temperatures, even with a window cracked open,” the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says. Children and animals are especially at risk of heat stroke, the federal health agency added.

This is the reason the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) has prioritized decreasing occurrences of children being left alone in cars. In 2022, the state gaming authority introduced a PSA titled “Don’t Gamble With Kids.” 

The awareness campaign is designed to prevent children from being left alone in a vehicle while their adult supervisor (parent, relative, guardian) engages in gambling or visits a casino. 

 

List of Excluded Individuals 

Individuals discovered breaching the Pennsylvania statute concerning leaving minors unsupervised outside a casino risk a perpetual ban from the establishment where the event occurred, along with automatic inclusion on the PGCB’s Exclusion List, resulting in the loss of gambling rights in all physical casinos across the state. 

Last week, the state added three more adults to the Exclusion List for leaving minors alone in cars. 

A man abandoned his three-year-old in the Rivers Casino Philadelphia parking lot for four minutes while he went inside to make a sports wager (online sports betting is permitted in Pennsylvania). A man and a woman who abandoned a five-year-old in an immobilized car while they gambled for 50 minutes inside Parx Casino were also barred.