Depew Man Pleads Guilty for Leaving Dog Inside Hot Vehicle

Erie County District Attorney Michael J. Keane announces that Daniel J. Kowalczyk, 29, of Depew, pleaded guilty this morning before Cheektowaga Town Court Justice John J. Wanat to one count of Confinement of Companion Animals in Vehicles: Extreme Temperatures (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.

On the afternoon of Tuesday, September 16, 2025, Cheektowaga Police responded to a parking lot on the 2500 block of Walden Avenue in the Town of Cheektowaga for a report of a deceased dog. The defendant left a dog under his care inside of cage in the rear cargo of his parked vehicle for more than an hour. A necropsy indicated that the dog, a 3-year-old Bulldog named "Goon," died from heatstroke due to impaired thermal regulation.

Our prosecutor requested that the Court imposed a lifetime securing order to prohibit Kowalczyk from owning, harboring, or having custody or control of any animals. The Court issued a one-year securing order.

DA Keane commends Chief Officer Lindsey Wood of the SPCA Serving Erie County, Officer Dennis Kusak and Officer Christopher Wierzbowski of the Cheektowaga Police Department as well as Cheektowaga Animal Control for their work in this investigation.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Megan E. Mahoney of the Animal Cruelty Unit.