Before a situation arises in which you might consider this, you’d be smart to talk to the police (next time you happen to spot one at your local restaurant or coffee shop) and find out what can happen to you if you do this. Whether or not the dog is in immediate danger, you may find yourself in legal trouble for breaking and entering, vandalism, or who-knows-what. I’m not saying you will be, just that it’s wise to know what all the consequences of such drastic action might be.
Several years ago my family and I encountered a similar situation in downtown Boulder, CO. Someone had parked their car in direct sunlight on a hot day, leaving a small dog inside with the window cracked (not nearly enough). Dog was clearly in distress; we called animal control and waited until they arrived, just as the owner got back to the car. From then on it was between animal control and the dog owner; we weren’t involved in any of what followed, but I’m pretty sure he got a citation.
Of course, if the car is parked in front of a single store, it’s obvious what to do. But what if it’s parked in a strip mall parking lot, with twenty large and small stores? Should you go from store to store looking for the owner? There’s a thread elsewhere on this board from someone who accidentally left his dog in the car. He described finding it dead with the seatbelt and door lock chewed through. Clearly that dog was desperate to get out, and I suspect that he would not have complained had you freed his dog from the car.
I don’t know about dogs, but my Vet told me a cat may not survive 20 minutes
in a no-AC car in hot weather, even with the windows down. He told me this after
I had brought my cat in after a ride of more than 5 but less than 10 minutes in
temp I don’t now recall, but probably at least upper 80s. She lost masses of hair
during the short trip; the Vet said that was a sign of dangerous overheating in a cat.
Ok, I know I’m sure to get smacked for this, but let me just put it out there.
Why not mind your own business?
I’m not saying if I knew a dog was in a car for half an hour I wouldn’t do something, but I see dogs in cars all the time with windows closed, but I don’t stake out every one to see if the owner comes back soon. I assume that the owner is a responsible adult who can make their own choices (and mistakes) and deal with the consequences.
There are real dollar costs to society for calling police and animal control in every instance where a dog might be at a small or completely unknown risk of heat stroke that probably grossly outweigh the cost to society of a few dead dogs.
If you think the owner was negligent, fine, but think about every time you’ve made a minor mistake.
p.s. I do like dogs and wouldn’t want to see any suffer, but I don’t want to live in a police state either where neighbors tattle on every minor or perceived infraction.
My dogs go with me on my errands. I leave the car running with the AC or heater on (and the radio… they apparently love talk radio). I use the remote to lock the car.
Nevertheless, I have been accosted by well-meaning folks who chastized me about ‘abandoning my pets’. They are usually embarrassed when they realize that the car is running and the dogs are comfortable.
BIG time dog lover here, who in hot weather leaves the car running with the AC on if the dogs have to spend any time at all inside, but … 71 degrees F? In the morning? That sounds fairly safe to me.
If it was the height of summertime and the animal was visibly in extreme distress, I’d call 911 and crack the window. No regrets. I’d also call a Vet to send someone over immediately to evaluate the dog.
How fast does an animal go from okay to extreme distress? Well, how fast does a 10 month old baby go the same distance? If the ambient temp outside is 92 and the inner temp of a car rises rapidly past 120 or 130, the dog or baby is in a world of trouble fairly rapidly.
One side note: In one’s understandable zeal to help out dog or child, one might well smash the window, spraying glass over the interior. Wouldn’t want to take out an eye with spraying glass while helping out dog or child. You own a car? That means you should have a handful of road flares.
Fire a road flare. Press it to the window. After a few seconds, the window’s safety glass will crack from the intense head, and crumble slightly. You can quickly but gently move the glass out of the way, and the glass should fall down inside and outside of the door, leaving almost all of the interior free of shards of cubical sharp glass bits.
You’ll notice that the vast majority of children who died, were forgotten, and not left in the car intentionally. Very similar to the Doper’s extremely sad tale about his dog. Momentary inattention can be a death setence. *It is not the case that only people who are routinely neglectful can forget their animal or child is in the car. *
Not hardly. Small town. A coupla cops. The Animal Control Office is Emily who runs the local animal shelter when she’s not tending her Insurance company business.
You call the cops, you are taking them away from another emergency call. I’m not saying don’t call- I just said call up there ! But I am in agreement here, there needs to be some judgement used. Cool early morning? Puppy yapping and barking and seeming VERY alive and perky? Well, stand by for a few minutes and see if owner shows up before calling in the cavalry.
A baby? Totally different story. Abandonment is a zero tolerance thing with me. I see a baby in a car, I call the police. I see a baby in the car in distress, I do as described above and never think twice about that decision.
And yes, I’ve called the police many times. Pets. Children. No difference. Every time the driver has had one excuse after another and the police have reamed them a new one.
Could you tell us what indications of suffering there were? You said the dogs were yapping. That sounds like an indication of happy healthy dogs to me.
Regardless of the weather? Bull fucking shit. My dog is outside right now in the car, while I use my friend’s computer. It’s 70 degrees and raining. She is as happy as a clam to be along for the ride.
