A businessman’s red setter died from heatstroke after he left the dog in a car last summer, a court heard.

Nigel Trueman, of Pattingham, near Wolverhampton, left pet Connor in the car for two hours. Magistrates at Denbigh in North Wales were told the animal was discovered collapsed in the hatchback at Kinmel Park depot, Bodelwyddan.

His owner had been in a meeting nearby and was alerted. Connor was taken to a vet at nearby Abergele but was dead on arrival due to dehydration.

Trueman, aged 45, of Greenway Gardens, was yesterday ordered to carry out 60 hours of unpaid work and banned from keeping dogs for a year after admitting causing unnecessary suffering to an animal on July 29. He must also pay £500 costs.

Glenn Murphy, prosecuting for the RSPCA, said the charity received around 6,000 calls every year about pets left in cars. He said it seemed Trueman was usually a “caring and responsible” pet owner but it was in the public interest to prosecute him.

The court heard how Trueman told an RSPCA inspector a tenant at his house normally looked after the nine-year-old dog when he could not. On this day he had to take Connor to work with him.

“He didn’t think it was a particularly warm day,” said Mr Murphy. “The sky was overcast and he thought the dog would be OK. A bowl of water had been left in the front of the car but it may have been difficult for the dog to reach it.

“He didn’t appreciate, when he was in the meeting, the amount of time that had passed. It was only when someone came in and said there was a dog in distress he realised the problem.”

Tony Newnes, defending, said Trueman loved Connor “dearly” but could not take him into the meeting. “He unfortunately made the decision to leave the dog in the car with the bowl of water and window open.”