The other day, I went to my local supermarket, to buy the upcoming week’s groceries.
While I was there, a voice announced on the intercom that a dog was left unattended in a car, with the windows up. The store employee mentioned the make, model, color and the complete license plate number.
I’m sad to see that I did NOT see anybody rushing towards the exit
I would have been more pleased if the people had also said something to the affect of “If you don’t take care of this in the next 5 minutes, we’re going to break the window”
In the vicinity, there are also a bank and a pharmacy. I regularly see people park in the parking lot, and hit ALL of those, before returning to their car. Sometimes, it can be 1/2 hour or more. Not okay, in my opinion, if it’s a hot day, and there’s a dog in the car, with the windows rolled up.
Perhaps the dog’s owner heard the announcement, yet was too embarrassed to be seen making a run for the door to save the dog . . . ?
Just a story that stuck in my mind. Back in 64 or 65 at the restaurant and drive in, one of the car hops came in reporting that a car was running in the parking lot. The boss who was smarter than us teenagers, said leave it alone, they probably have the air conditioner on while they were eating. Back then air conditioning in a car was pretty rare and none of us had experience with it but sure enough the couple had left their dog in the car with the air on for him while they ate. I suppose if you did that now you could be arrested for leaving the car running so if you have a pet and you’re alone, I’m not sure what you can do. I have seen dogs tied outside of stores where they are not allowed which I suppose is the next best thing to do. Traveling with a pet was always a hassle.
I have acquired a dog after all these years without one and it amazes me how caring for a dog can be as demanding as caring for a child. Luckily my new friend Josephine will stay in the yard unattended for hours on end so I’m much freer than most dog owners but when I need to take her with me it becomes a challenge to consider how to deal with her at every stop. In this summer heat finding a shady spot to park is impossible and with the windows down sitting even :30 minutes can be stressful. Tying her leash to something in the shade would be great but these days there are too many sickos to take a chance most places and the dog was mistreated badly and will not fight back or even bark to complain if attacked. If someone who cared ever found my dog suffering in my car or wherever I would appreciate them doing whatever seemed appropriate and If I saw no alternative I would likely knock out a window to help an overheated dog or child.
FWIW I stopped at Tractor Supply and put Josephine in the bed of the truck and a customer saw her and felt she was overheated and bought a large bottle of water and filled her bowl that had emptied while driving. I hadn’t realized that shopping had taken so long. But there are a lot of good people around
Just recently I had to transport my brothers dog the trip was just over 8 hours long. At one point I had to stop for food and a restroom break. Since I didn’t know the area I would not leave the dog just tied to a tree or something. I left the dog with water and food in my locked car with the A/C on. I’d gladly take the ticket for leaving my car running.
Florida allows you to break a car’s window to rescue animals left in a car, there in a procedure to be followed.
What K9 LEOs do is leave their vehicles running with the AC on.
Same law in Oregon for pets and kids. It should be the same for all 50 states. Southern Alaska can reach 80F. In fact the Southernmost Aleutian island is at the same latitude by town is 45 degrees. Check out this hot/locked car story’
Recently the police arrested a local operator of a cat shelter for animal abuse. Dozens and dozens of cats roaming unfed and skin and bones in filthy conditions while the operator collected funds to operate. Then a few weeks ago a van loaded with shelter dogs was en-route from I believe Florida to Minnesota and had car trouble with a number of them dying. I had no idea that shelter pets had to be moved from one state to another and I’m still puzzled about the whole business. It just seemed strange to me so I’m going to reserve judgment on the whole shelter industry but my interest has been raised a little.
Call me a cynic if you want . . . the police dispatcher isn’t going to be snarky and claim I’m wasting their time, or it’s a waste of resources?
I’m asking, because there have been horror stories of incompetent and/or heartless police dispatchers
I have no idea about privately operated shelters . . .
But I used to volunteer at a city animal shelter, and it was operated in a competent manner. Sure, there could be some improvements, but no major problems, as far as I could tell.
I adopted one of our cats from that same shelter. She’d been there nine days already by then. I have no idea why nobody wanted her, because she’s very well behaved. No trouble at all, versus our other cat, who had a feral mom, and is too smart for her own good, as some cats tend to be
I called 911 for motorcycle riders engaging in what I thought was dangerous behavior. There were four lanes of traffic moving north, but it was slowing to a crawl in all lanes. It turned out there was a motorcyclist at the head of each lane. On cue, they all accelerated and pulled a wheelie, driving what seemed like a mile or more with the front wheel up. Then they would slow and do it again. When I called, the dispatcher seemed quite bored by my concern. She took the information, and I’m sure it ended up in the round file if she wrote anything down at all.
Yeah that happened to my one night coming home. I was in the right lane I suppose going slightly over 70 mph, and suddenly two cycles screamed by me with the front wheels in the air. I never called anyone but I expected to see them in the middle of the road farther down the line. I just thought what idiots.
My local law enforcement makes no effort to control idiots driving crotch rockets either. And as for animals left in cars, most law enforcement here keeps their distance from such situations in hopes that an ‘animal lover’ will get involved saving them from the paper work hassles I guess.
