Caretaker went out at 1am and returned home around 8pm and left them in the car. No chance she wasn’t loaded on some mind-altering substance. Know your limits, people.
I remember reading somewhere that Hollywood picked up on audiences' propensity to be more emotionally invested in the well-being of dogs, even if they're unnamed brand new characters and there are humans dying all around them.
This really doesn't fit into the category of horrifying mistake. As far as I can tell she left them in the car all night while she partied with a friend, drove home at 8am, and left them in the car while she slept it off. I'm not saying she deliberately tried to harm them but this is a series of grossly negligent actions, not the kind of horrific (and easy to make) mistake that the article you linked is talking about.