Ok... People are getting carried AWAY! I was so pissed!!!

I do agree that people get carried away with it, and the woman is silly for calling the cops.

However, I do take a closer look at dogs in cars as I pass in a parking lot. If I truly thought that a dog was closed in a car with no AC on a hot day, I would not hesitate to get someone's attention. Not because I'm all "Save all the dogs," but because people do dumb things sometimes.

It is because of propaganda like this:


And this:


And this graph, not sure how accurate it is:



That stuff circulates everywhere in different variations, its basically brainwashing people into thinking DOG + CAR = BAD.

Although, I would say it also depends on the car you are leaving your dog in. I wouldn't leave a dog in my little old toyota in this weather at ALL, there is a reason we call my car the "easy bake oven". Besides the fact that it has no air conditioning, it gets REALLY HOT real quick unless I can find good shade to park it in, which isn't always the case. And it can indeed be hot early in the morning. I left work at 10:30 last night and it was still like 90 degrees and horribly humid. But that's Virginia weather for you!

Can someone post a link to the real story behind those burned pads? Just curious because of course I saw it all over my Facebook feed lately. I tried to search for it myself, but just saw it posted everywhere as "hot asphalt burns".

Oh me too.... I always look...

Difference between me and her?

1) I'd make sure the dog looked to need help

2) in a situation where I was seeing an animal in distress, or what appeared to be distress where the vehicle is parked in the lot of a tiny restaurant in a little village I'd go in and attempt to find the owner first, before involving the law, if the owner could not be found or refused to care and I was sure that the animal was in danger/ distress I would then call the cops and break window if needed...

3) I repeat, I'd make SURE the animal needed help... And a dog in the shade, with a nice breeze (may have forget ti mention that) windows down, not panting... Does not need help...

4) If I did misjudge as advised and clearly seen by the dog, and the officer I'd apologize!!!


Seems these days people call the law for everything! We live in a very rural area surrounded by farms.. My neighbor had a cow get out, it happens, rarely but it does happen... And someone called the cops! What happened to the days of knocking on the farmhouse door and saying "Hey you have a cow out!?"

Huh I never thought about someone possibly calling the cops because I have crates in the back of my SUV... And you can't even see in them (which is the point) since they are airline crates. Oh man would I be LIVID if someone broke a window because they thought there might maybe be dogs in there.....

I'm always overprotective with regards to leaving dogs in cars, but come on. It doesn't take a genius to see if a dog is super stressed or not.

Oh and I got flamed for stating that I take my dogs for walks in the heat. Multiple times. Their argument was that their human feet hurt on hot pavement, so why wouldn't it hurt a dogs' paw pads. Uhhhhhhh paw pads are not the same as human feet?

I also noted that I've conditioned my guys to walk when it's hot out, as my schedule is all over the place due to my job and that we take walks slow when it's ridiculous outside and take grassy paths as well as light colored sidewalks. Plus, once I start running Kimma in agility, she needs to be able to run in hot weather and Bubbles needs to be able to work in a show ring in whatever temperature. NOPE. Not good enough.

Oh man, I'd be so upset, especially with you close by.

My friend picked up a rottie mix puppy with me one night, and we had set a tupperware container of water for it in the back while driving home. We had to stop at a local bar/movie theater area to run into the bar and talk to a friend, we were in there no more than 10 minutes. I don't remember the temperature now but it was NOT hot, and it was like 10pm. Got back to the car and the cops were there, wrote me a warning and everything, while the complainer stood there glaring at me. I was trying to show the cop the pup even had water, not to mention the temperature was normal in the car, they wouldn't have any of it. It's really embarrassing.

Linky to the original article with the paw pad pic: http://mypeted.com/news/new-approach-to-stem-cell-therapy-brings-hope-august-21-2011.php Please share far and wide!

I even get paranoid about leaving my dogs crated in wire crates in the back of my hatchback with the windows fully down and a fan on when running into a store for something quick, but at least most people wouldn't break a fully down window when being a dummy. A regular pet owner of course wouldn't realize that they are perfectly fine in the same set up, plus the hatch up, at schh club practice for several hours.

That sucks.

It pisses me off to see a dog in a hot car in the summer if they seem stressed, panting, trying to get out, been in there a while, etc... but that's why I'm too scared to bring Jackson as many places with me in the summer. People just get a bit too crazy about it. So I don't risk it.

However, my car DOES get VERY hot in this 100+ degree weather we've been having. So I wouldn't leave him in there even for 5-10 minutes at this point. It's just too hot.

Ugh, I've never even thought about people doing that. I ALWAYS have wire crates in my car (usually two) and then travel plastic crates (usually two) in the back seat. I'm just too lazy to take them out and put them back in after every class... I'd be furious if someone busted out my windows.

Its crazies like that, that make me nervous to run in and pay for gas EVEN in winter. Because Ivan is a whiner, panter and in general a noise maker. Not because he is in distress, but because Car rides=FUN. So he works himself up and if I stop and get out he starts whinning. As if I would forget him.

Well, even if your dog was safe, I have to be the odd man out on this one. I think even if it's a false alarm, I'm glad people in general are becoming more aware of this problem. There are still so many people who put their dogs AND children at severe risk by leaving them in cars when the car's temperature can increase to deadly levels and the oxygen levels decrease significantly. It really doesn't take an incredibly hot, sunny day to heat the car up too much. And rolling windows down just an inch or two can actually create a pressure situation where the outside air is kept out. Even over cast days or even when it's not very hot, it can actually heat a car up fast.

http://www.nws.noaa.gov/os/heat/index.shtml

So, I'm in the better safe than sorry camp. And even though it was annoying to have this person call the cops, it could be looked at like....some day she may call the cops on someone whose dog is really in trouble and might save that dog's life.