For those that missed my angry tweets, some asshole couple left their dog inside their car while they went shopping in Target. This was right around noon. In the blazing sunshine (and a few hazy clouds). With high humidity and a temperature around 75°. The couple oh-so-thoughtfully cracked the vehicle’s windows before leaving the dog to roast. Obviously, I called the police.
I admit, for a split second I was like, “Well, maybe the owner will be right back…”. But then I see the dog, a Bichon Frise, panting his poor head off and clawing at the windows, and was like, “Fuck them” and pulled out my cell phone and called the police. I’m sorry, but you do NOT leave animals in vehicles on hot days. I don’t care if it’s “overcast” and “breezy”, as the owner tried to claim in an attempt to weasel out of a lecture and citation from the police officers that showed up, IT’S FUCKING HOT OUTSIDE, DICKWAD. What’s the limit for leaving animals in vehicles? 60° or so? It gets SO much hotter in a car, especially when the car isn’t even in the shade. Ughhhh.
I don’t know how long the dog was in the car for, but he did seem okay when the owner put him on a leash and let him out so the police officers could check him over. I do know that he was in the car for a minimum of 22 minutes, as the police showed up 16 minutes after I called, and it was another 6 minutes before the owners came strolling out to the car with a loaded-down shopping cart. I told them flat out I called, and that it’s cruel and irresponsible of them to leave their animal in a hot car. Oh, and the bullshit about it being overcast and breezy? Even the cops were like, “Uhh… it can be overcast and breezy on a hot July day and yet dogs and kids still die in cars”. Pwned.
What an ass. I don’t give a shit that he was pissed at me, I’m just happy that first and foremost, the dog was okay, and second, he’s been reprimanded and fined for leaving his dog in a vehicle in a hot day. Hopefully next time he’ll think twice!
Good for the police for backing you up. I wonder how the owner thinks that ‘breezy’ outside of the car equates to it being breezy *inside* of the car, that’s just horrible. Wish I could hit the ‘love’ button more than once for this entry. Hopefully he will think twice, but you know some people just never ‘get’ it. I wonder how he’d appreciate being locked in a car with the windows opened just a crack for long periods of time!
the dog was in the vehicle for less than 30 minutes. in 75 degree weather. With the window cracked.
a dog isn’t going to “roast” in that sort of conditions.
at least it wasn’t 90+ degree weather, with the window NOT cracked, and for like an hour or something.
@-: Oh really? Either you don’t have a dog, you have a dog and have done the same thing I turned this asshole in for, or you’re just lacking common sense.
The following articles may be of interest to you — and will definitely set you and your misconceptions straight:
http://www.helpinganimals.com/animalsHome_dogs_hot.asp
http://www.paw-rescue.org/PAW/PETTIPS/DogTip_HotCars.php
http://www.pet-abuse.com/pages/prevent_abuse/keeping_cool.php
http://www.peta.org/feat/dogdays/index.html
What an idiot. Seriously, there is NO excuse for this kind of thing. If you are going to go somewhere that your pet can’t go, DON’T bring him/her along! Simple as that. And if you HAVE to stop somewhere at least have the brains to park in a well shaded spot and have ALL over your vehicles windows cracked enough to allow a reasonable air flow. It is your responsibility to care for your animal properly and you deserve a citation for not doing so.
Good job on calling. Most people wouldn’t. They’d just shake their head, say how wrong it is, and fail to do anything about it.
This is the kind of thing that makes me angry too. There was a case here last year where a fairly old dog was left in a car for only 20 minutes in 80 degree heat, and it died.
I don’t think most people realise that dogs do not sweat like humans do. They cannot regulate their body temperatures, and parked cars are just hot boxes on wheels!
I’m guessing the anonymous commenter up there is just ignorant. Hence the anonymity.
Good for you. So many people would have seen that dog and just “minded their own business.”
This morning I got into my car (parked outside) and it was stifling hot. Outside it was beautiful- “overcast and breezy”, temps in the 60s. You don’t leave any living creature in that.
Several years ago, I knew a woman whose dog died from being left in the car (incidentally also on an “overcast and breezy” day). She had put the dog in the car and stopped by a library on her way to their destination. She was just running in really quickly to drop off a book, but she got caught up in something, forgot about the dog, and wound up staying for several hours. Now she actively campaigns against leaving dogs in cars. You just have to be SUPER SUPER careful, and even that isn’t always enough. Good for you, for sticking up for that dog. Her owners may have been angry, but they don’t realize that you saved her life.
Good for you for calling! Most people would have just looked the other way. I’m glad the police issued them a ticket.
Hell, if its over 70 degrees, even if I’m just running to the store for something quick, I won’t take Pudgie with me unless there’s someone else with me who can stay in the car with him. Since with him, I can only crack the windows a bit before he gets the smart idea to try and stick his head out/climb out and I simultaneously don’t want him to roast to death and don’t want him to choke himself to death while I’m in the store. So no matter how big his puppy eyes are, if Whitters is leaving the car for more than 45 seconds, Pudgie has to stay home.
Well he should get more than a fine the stupid arsehole!! I’d take the dog off him!!
Thank goodness you were around to help out! This reminds me of some idjit last year in San Diego who decided to put her poor puppy in a basket while at target and her puppy’s foot got stuck and they couldn’t get her out. Then there was the other retard who left her dog in the car and came in crying because her dog was barely breathing.
It astounds me the stupidity that people have with their animals. Would you leave your child in the car unattended for that long in 75 degree weather? I didn’t think so. I’m glad you straight up told them you called and that they were idjits. Maybe next time they’ll think before they do something so horribly cruel!
You did the exact right thing by calling the police. I don’t get pet owners who basically torture their pets by doing stuff like that.
Is there a registry in America for irresponsible pet owners? Here, in Finland, once you get two “strikes” (that is, a vet states you’ve been cruel to your pets), you get a repeated offender stamp and your privilige to keep pets may be taken away.
@Jonna: Unfortunately not.
Here in the states most offenders get a slap on the wrist, maybe a measly $500 misdemeanor fine, if that. And while shelters can block them from adopting animals, that’s only if they happen to have their records in the system. *sigh*