If you take your dog with you, TAKE YOUR DOG WITH YOU.
That means OUT of the car.
That said, a warning is needed: Most people who have dogs know how hot a sealed car in the sun can get. If you do not have a dog yourself, check yourself before you wreck yourself. Facebook fear-mongering can cost you.
Cars in underground garages are not going to get hotter that the outside air temperature.
Dogs and people at rest live in 90-100 degree temperatures for months at a time. Only two of the temperatures on this card are actually dangerous.
If you smash the window out of someone's car, you are liable for vandalism unless it is an extraordinary circumstance and it is well-documented. Expect to lose as much as $1,000 out-of-pocket for window replacement and car rental, and even more if lawyers are involved.
Unless the dog appears very near death, call the police and take no action yourself.
4 comments:
unfortunately in California, a recent law passed saying in effect that any old person, qualified to read a dog's level of distress or not, is able to bash your window in without consequence if they think your dog is in distress...whether or not the dog actually IS in distress or not.
you can imagine where that can go...there are a lot of humaniacs around....and most cops aren't trained to know what is a stressed dog and what isn't.
one of the big problems with this law is that, in a society where dogs are already seldom allowed anywhere, this law discourages even further the inclusion of one's dog in one's everyday life. nobody wants to pay for their windshield unnecessarily broken.
and this from a vet, who has treated plenty of heat stressed dogs...and seen many MORE responsible pet owners who do understand when and how it's ok to leave one's dog in the car.
Exactly why I wrote this post. A generation of wanna be “Rescue Rangers,” many of whom have never owned a dog, are being told they will be heroes for smashing out a car or truck window. They need to be told they will be sued and have to get a lawyer which will cost them north of $5,000 unless they call the police first.
Thank you for posting this. I had two of my dogs in the car on the way home from the vet, had to run into CVS for Benadryl, 65 degree day, all four windows opened 5 inches or so, like 1/3rd down. Probably in store for five minutes tops. Guy was waiting at my car just to say to me "do you know having dogs in cars can kill them on a hot day like today?" 65 degrees. Because he stood at my car, do you think my dogs were just sleeping and relaxing in the back anymore? Nimwit. I've had dogs for all of my 51 years. Not one has died in a car, thanks.
I'd never leave my dog in the car when it's hot out, but I'm kind of paranoid to even leave my dog in the car even when it's 15 C and overcast in case someone decides to ream me out about it.
That said, I did have to smash a window to get a dog out of a car once. It was my own dog, who I accidently locked in the car during summer in the middle of nowhere :| That dumb mistake cost me $400.
Post a Comment