How I lost my cool in the parking lot.

The BBQ Pit
1

So, I just returned from an otherwise lovely lunch. My sister took my baby niece and I to Port City, and had a great Caesar salad.

When we walked out into the parking lot, I noticed this old junky station wagon. It was there when we pulled in, about 30 minutes earlier. The only reason I noticed it was because I know someone who used to have one like it. We walked into Eckerds, shopped for swimmies for the niece, and came back out.

That’s when I noticed the little furry nose poking out of the tip-top crack of the window. The little nose kept disappearing and reappearing, because the dog was jumping to get at the air coming in the window. Outside temperature? 91 FUCKING DEGREES!

I packed the sister and the niece away in the car, and stood outside to call the police. I don’t usually raise a stink on my lunch break, but this dog had been locked in the car for at least 45 minutes. I gave the police the car description, license plate, etc. They said they would send someone out ASAP.

10 minutes later (now a total of at least 55 minutes) an older man comes out of Eckerds. He has a bag from the pharmacy. He walks to the back window of the station wagon, and sticks his fingers in to pet the dog. Hmm. I didn’t think he was the culprit. Then he went to get in the front seat of the station wagon. And I lost it.

“EXCUSE ME! Do you know it’s illegal to leave a dog in a car in this temperature?” Ok, I exaggerated. I don’t know that there’s a law, but there damn well should be.

“Oh, the dog has plenty of air,” he says.

“No, the dog does NOT have plenty of air, as he was jumping up to the crack of the window JUST TO BREATHE,” I said. I was almost in tears by this time.

“Well, he’s fine.”

“I’ve already called the police on you, sir. I gave them your information, and I hope they take your dog from you and give him to someone who deserves to have a pet.” The entire time I was talking to him, I was shaking, I was so mad. And I know I got that stupid ‘I’m SO pissed at you’ face at one point or another.

He smiles and waves as he drives away. I, reverting back to teenage mentality, yelled “FUCK YOU, BUDDY!” and flipped him the bird as he drove away. If I had not had on my nametag from work when I confronted him, I think I would have kicked him SO HARD in the shins. I even wore the Doc Martens today.

This entire exchange, between me calling the cops and him driving away, took about 15 minutes. I was standing in direct sunlight, wearing very light, thin hospital scrubs. By the time the guy got out of the store, I was already soaked with sweat.

Who the fuck do these people think they are, that they can leave an ANIMAL IN A FUR COAT in a car for an HOUR? In 91 degree heat? In fucking Charleston, the humidity capital of the GODDAMN WORLD? You know, there are some times when I wish I was the stupid, asshole teenager that I used to be. I’ll never do anything like this, but I really wanted to beat the shit out of that guy, stuff him in his car, and take his dog inside Eckerds for an hour. (I figure the beating would weaken him to a similar state of wearing a fur coat in the summer.) Just lock him in the car, and stroll around a store for an hour, maybe get the dog a drink and sit down, then come out and treat him like a some sort of posession.

If you love your pet, and you want to take your pet places, that’s fine. Don’t leave them in a car. I know plenty of responsible pet owners who take their dogs all over the city. My roommate’s boyfriend carries a pack that has ice and water in it just for the dog. When are people going to get it through their heads that a car with the window cracked is not a safe place in the fucking SUMMERTIME? I bet it was 150 degrees in that car, if not hotter. When we got in our car, we had to keep the doors open to air it out because of my niece. If it’s too hot to sit in with a baby, then it’s too hot for your dog. And if you’re going somewhere where dogs aren’t permitted (i.e. a store) then leave your dogs at home. They do not need to be left alone in a sweltering car in the middle of summer while you chit-chat with the pharmacist and purchase your hemmorhoid cream.

2

You rock, Skerri. You did the right thing. The only thing you could’ve done which would’ve been better was if you’d broken the window so Fido could really reach the air.

Of course, you’d probably have been setting yourself up for legal action, dammit.

Still, I share your rage.

What a :wally

3

I don’t get it. Here I am completely panicked about leaving my dogs in my house (which, ATM, does not have functioning A/C), with all the windows open, about twelve fans running, and two vats of ice water at their disposal…

(Last week, I went home at lunch every day, just to check on them–all the while playing phone tag with the repairman…)

…and this asshole still thinks it’s OK to leave a dog in a car on a 90-degree day!

Anyway, I would have done exactly what you did–that poor dog.

4

I would have helped you beat the man (I’m just up I-26 a bit) :wink: Maybe the police will fine him or something, though not likely. Good for you anyway - you did the right thing.

5

Too bad you don’t have the ASPCA cops in your town (or do you?). They totally rock on the TV show on Animal Planet. And now they have a new one with the Detriot Humane Society. They’d have tracked that guy down and taken that doggie away!

6

I would have broken the window. Probably a stupid move, but I get stupid when I see animals in danger :frowning:

Good for you for calling the police.

7

I’d break the window, too. Paying for a new window is a small price to pay for the life of the dog. Good for you for telling him off! maybe when he gets home and complains about you, one of his family members will tell him off, too. Here, it is illegal to leave a dog in a hot car.

8

I’ve helped to break into a car before to let a dog out. It was an older car so we just used a coat-hanger.

I was with my mom and we noticed the dog and started to try to get in the car when a couple of other people started yelling (well, speaking sternly) to us about leaving the dog in the car. We said it wasn’t our dog and wasn’t our car and we were trying to break the poor devil out. Those people stood around and stayed/helped.

By the time the dog/car owners got out of the store (where ever the hell they were) there were about 10 people standing around with the dog and the car and water and what not, ranting at the couple that owned the dog.

Boy - did they look embarased…

9

Although it’s been a rather chilly season lately, it was in the upper 80 degrees the other day. I forget where I was, but I must have been downtown with a friend. We had just stopped at a coffee place for italian sodas, and we’re getting back into her car when I look over at a red station wagon with the windows cracked, and a little nose poking out. “I think it’s horrible when people leave their dogs in hot cars,” I comment to my friend. A middle aged woman, about 5 feet from the car, yells back at us, “It was only for 5 minutes!”, scowls, and hops in the car and drives away.

IMHO as a non-dog owner, I would argue that, if you have to leave your pet in the car at ALL in the heat, even for “five” minutes, you shouldn’t take the pet with you.

10

Thanks, everyone. I was extremely tempted to break the window and let the dog out, but I figured calling the cops was the best option. They were supposed to send someone out from Animal Control, which is basically worthless here in Charleston (they’ve never been expedient or reliable).

Ya know, I wonder how hard it would be to get a city-wide referendum (may be difficult, as I don’t think I can even spell referendum) about leaving pets in cars? I would gladly volunteer to go and (legally) slim-jim someone’s window to let Fido and Fifi out of these bastards’ cars. Or better yet, break their window, get the dog to a local no-kill shelter like Pet Helpers, and leave them a nice fat ticket, which would be donated to Pet Helpers. Anybody got any advice on this?

11

Something I just don’t understand - why do people take their dogs when they run errands?? The only time mine get into the car is when they’re going to the vet or the groomer. If I’m going shopping or visiting or just taking a drive, the last thing I need is a car full of dogs. Same deal with people who take their dogs shopping at pet stores. When I’m picking up 75# of dog food, I don’t need to be fumbling with leashes and a loaded shopping cart.

Or maybe I’m just an old grouch…

12

Skerri you are my hero. I can’t tell you how many people I’ve bitched out about this very thing. If you love your dog and it’s hot, leave him home!

If I happen to have Chance, the Weimaraner with me and it’s even a little warm, I leave the car running with the A/C on if I have to run in the store.

You rock!
:slight_smile:

13

Also you can’t exactly say ‘stand back’ to a dog. Yes, breaking the window might be the best thing for the dog, but the owner is going to hate you for it, and probably claim you half killed it.

14

My boss went “downtown” a couple years ago for reacting in a similar fashion. Keep in mind, now - this is PHOENIX. Home of the 115 degree summer day. Car temperatures can get into the 150s and higher, easily. German Shepherd in a nice SUV, while the people were having dinner at Marie Callender’s. The dog was almost passed out from heat stroke. Steve and his wife called the Humane Society, and called the cops, and had the restaurant announce “Would the owner of…please go to your vehicle?” Steve wound up getting into a huge argument with the guy, who said the dog was “fine” (it obviously wasn’t), and Steve, in impotent fury, punched the door of the SUV, leaving a dent. When the cops arrived, they DID cite the guy (it is a city ordinance that animals cannot be left in a car when the temperature reaches…I don’t know what any more, but I researched it after this incident), but they also hauled Steve away for destruction of property. He just agreed to pay the repair, and they left it at that.

He’s our hero.

Skerri, you’ve just joined him. Good for you. :slight_smile: