Every week we hear about someone leaving a dog in a car parked in a parking lot.
People just are not aware how hot a car can get in 30 minutes. On a 85 degree day the temperature inside your car reaches 120 degrees in 30 minutes. Your dog will become dehydrated and suffer permanent organ damage. Heat exhaustion ( just like in humans) is a horrible way to die.
Just today, I was talking with a friend in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan and as she was coming out of her local Kroger, she saw a black lab in a car with a window cracked. The dog was visibly panting, eyes glazed over and he was pawing at the window to try and get out. She was among a group of horrified fellow shoppers that were seeing this. She asked if anyone had called the police and everyone that was standing there said "no". She called the police and as the police arrived the woman who owned the car came out of the Kroger with a full cart of groceries. When asked about leaving the dog, she said "My family needs groceries." My friend gave this woman a hard time about this. She did not press charges, but I think this woman needs to know what she did is considered animal abuse!
I know here in Wilmington, NC where the temperatures have been in the upper 90's that if a dog was left in a car, they would be baked to death. I cannot understand how people that get into their hot cars and crank on the air conditioning can even consider to leave a pet in a car for any amount of time.
If you see a pet in a vehicle, please use your head and your cell phone and call the police. They will come. Believe me, I love animals and if I do see a pet or a child in a car, I will break the window and rescue them.
This is animal abuse and according to a recent inquiry in a case the state trooper responded“There is no law regarding the time a dog can be left in a parked vehicle,” State Patrol trooper Dan McDonald said. “However, if the conditions warrant, the owner can be charged with Animal Cruelty under RCW 16.52.207.”
This poor dog ran out of the back of her SUV and fell to the ground. I would have liked to ask her- Can I let you sit in your car while you shop without any air conditioning? I don't think she would like that too much. I have heat exhaustion and it is awful.
PLEASE!! DO NOT LEAVE YOUR PET IN A CAR!!
Ann Shevin, president
Mickey's Pet Supplies
Here are links to other articles:http://www.gazette.com/articles/car-120378-left-dog.html
http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/local/inland_empire&id=8204774
