An ISU professor in court on animal neglect charges received an additional two counts when he left two dogs in his car in the court parking lot.

Joseph Viles, associate professor of zoology and genetics, appeared in court July 8 for unrelated animal neglect charges. His appearance date for the most recent charges is set for Thursday.

Viles was unavailable for comment.

Gary Foster, chief deputy for the Story County Sheriff’s Office, said the crimes are simple misdemeanors, punishable by 30 days in jail or up to a $500 fine.

The temperature on July 8 reached 85 degrees, and there was no water or shade available for the dogs, Foster said.

“A citizen came into the sheriff’s office to report two dogs left unattended in the parking lot,” Foster said. “One appeared to be dead and hanging out the side of the car.

“We found one inside the vehicle and another outside trying to get underneath the vehicle to get some shade.”

Lorna Lavender, director of the Ames Animal Shelter and animal control official for the City of Ames, said this isn’t Viles’ first offense.

“It was alleged to our department that he was witnessed beating his dog on Welch Avenue inside a vehicle,” she said. “We were able to procure a statement from a witness and file charges under a section of state code of animal neglect that has to do with beating of animals.”

Lavender said this was the first time the City of Ames and Story County have been involved in cruelty charges with Viles. Viles’ municipal charges had to do with standard of care and barking.

“Animal abuse is when it’s someone else’s dog, neglect is when it is your own,” said Story City Attorney Dan Rothman.

Ames’ City Attorney Judy Parks said the city’s official file on Viles is “four or five inches thick.”

“We had our first charge against him back in July 1995, and then over the course of the next four years had quite a number of times we’ve had charges against him,” Parks said.

On 16 separate occasions, Viles was convicted or found in violation of animal charges.

“These typically were animal at large charges or problems with upkeep of the animals, and there were a couple times where animals were just making noise,” Parks said. “Ultimately with the track record he accumulated, we requested an order from the court that he not keep animals at his residence. Neither of the occasions, in Ames or at the Justice Center, were situations where animals were at the residence.”