This photo is quite provocative, but I think it sends a clear message that a car, during the Summer, is no place for your pet!
According to my local Animal Services, the police is the proper agency to report pets that are left unattended in hot cars. Animal Services don’t have the authority to gain access into vehicles. Animal Services will only show up if the pet is in distress.
Would you leave your baby, alone in your car while you shopped? So this Summer, especially since it’s going to be a particularly hot one, please leave your pets at home!
This is an article that was printed recently in the Chronicle Journal in Thunder Bay. If you leave your pet in the car, it could lead to some serious fines.
A car, a hot day and less than 10 minutes is all it takes to give a dog irreversible brain damage.
That’s why officials with the Thunder Bay and District Humane Society are reminding people to leave their dog at home when going running errands in the summer. Humane Society Insp. Clancy Martin said once a vehicle is shut off, it takes less than 10 minutes for a car to reach dangerously high temperatures.
Because dogs don’t sweat, they will pant until exhaustion and unconsciousness.
“Windows down a slight amount doesn’t help enough. Vehicles parked in the shade doesn’t help enough,” Martin said. “On a hot day there is no acceptable amount of time for an animal to be in a vehicle.”
Not only is it dangerous, it’s also against the law to leave an animal in a car when temperatures are high.
Dog owners can face up to two years in jail, a $60,000 fine and a lifetime ban on owning animals if caught.
“I will break your window. I will take your animal. I will take it immediately to a vet. You will be charged and responsible for the vet bill,” said Martin.
Martin said he’s received more than 16 calls for dogs being left in hot vehicles this summer, the most popular call received by the Humane Society. While it’s a shameful act to leave a dog in a car when the sun is out, Martin is encouraging people not to take matters into their own hands when they see a dog in a car.
From hot coffee thrown into a dog owner’s face or “animal abuser” keyed into the side of a car, Martin said he’s seen members of the public vent their frustration toward neglectful owners. But people should call the Humane Society or the police so they can deal with the issue in a more official way.
If owners can’t leave their dog at home, Martin said staying outside of the vehicle with the dog is acceptable, but the dog would probably rather be somewhere else.
“They’d rather be laying on your couch with the air conditioning,” Martin said.
Martin said he will charge an owner with failing to provide adequate care, causing unnecessary suffering, causing an animal to be in distress and allowing an animal to remain in distress if he sees a dog in a car on a hot day.
It saddens me greatly whenever I see an animal (usually a dog, but I have seen a cat before) locked up in a Walmart or mall parking lot on a hot day. Even if the window is open it still gets soooo hot.
If you need to go shopping, leave your pet at home!
What a HORRID picture, i get the message and i agree with the “message” its the picture.. OMG i just worry it will give some sicko the wrong idea.. i have never even imagined something like that until i saw this picture.
Im sorry, i know it is with good intentions.. just too much for me. poor puppy, even though i know its fake..i want to pick him up and rescue him 🙁
im not even sure i would wait for the police.. i think i would just call them and tell them i am rescuing a dog and breaking into the car… they can charge me if they want later..
Yes don’t leave your pets in your car and your kids too. I recently saw a little baby girl in the back seat of a really hot car. I reported to the store manager and they immediatley made an emergency announcement to get the parents back to their car. The little one was okay but was crying and very uncomfortable. It broke my heart. The police were called. The parents said the store and I over reacted but I don’t think so. The little girls was really looking bad and I just had to do something.
A few years ago while in a store someone came in and said..does anyone have a dog in their truck? It was a small store and no one answered her. When I left the woman was beside the car as well as a few other of us . The truck was open so we opened the door and gave the dog water. Someone called the police as well as the humane society and they came right away. A good 1/2 hr. passed and the owner still had not come out. The woman from the humane society said I know this dog. He was adopted not long ago and this is not the 1st time we have had to take an animal away from her. She promised on this adoption she would take better care of a dog. Finally the woman came out of the store and started to scream and freak out to get away from her car etc. With that she was informed that the dog was being taken away from her and will never be returned and she would never allowed to adopt another pet again.
On another note..a neighbor 2 doors down from me was given a Sheltie puppy as a gift and they would let the dog out on the back deck in the heat with no shade or water. One day I was out on my deck and the poor dog not only was barking to be let in where the owner sat in his central a/c house ignoring the dog but the poor thing was trying to shimmy it’s body underneath the bbq for shade. It was brutal that day. I had enough and called the humane society and said I to them this is not the 1st time and I wanna see him try and shimmy his butt under the bbq from the heat. Right away they came out and in a matter of minutes the dog was back in the house.
I just don’t know what is wrong with people.
I saw a dog in the backseat of a car at Wendy’s the other day. Windows were open but I felt bad for the dog – I wanted to call animal services but the bf told me I was overreacting.
People need to leave their animals at home.
This will never change until people STOP seeing pets and children as “objects” Its sad and unfortunate but many people refuse to understand how serious of an issue it is to leave anyone in a vehicle alone for an extended amount of time.
I wouldnt hesitiate to smash out a window to save an animal, or moreso a child. On top of that, I would hesitate to punch the owner/parent in the face (I am both myself lol).
I actually saw this episode of Oprah before she ended about a mother who “accidentally” left her 2 year old in the car on a hot day, and she died. Somehow the story became more about how mothers are overscheduled, and less about how this woman practically murdered her child. No jail time, nothing. Just an OOPS. WTF?!?!?!?!!?!?
If you cannot be responsible you should not have pets or kids, and both should be taken away from you.
I agree. So sad to see! The ONLY time my dog spends in the car is with me, OR, on VERY RARE occasion, i’ll run in to pick up a prescription or something that takes 5 minutes. in that case, i have command start on my car, and i leave it running for him so that the windows are closed and the cool air conditioning is blasting while i’m gone. I’ve never left him in an OFF vehicle in the summer or winter. and it’s even rare in the spring and fall. Poor pups! They get hot faster than humans… it’s not like they can do anything to cool themselves off! Babies are even worse! Your child is not an accessory or a toy…they are a human being that you are in charge of caring for! NEVER leave them unattended. anywhere!!
i don’t know how the parents can say “it’s not that hot” or “you’re overreacting”
they should try driving with the windows closed, no air circulation, no air conditioning, and THEN SEE HOW THEY FEEL.
having the window open in a car that’s not moving doesn’t do much when there’s no breeze!
aww. People with no common sense like that shouldn’t be able to keep their children or own an animal. Well I recently seen a dog in a car with two windows partially open but at least it wasn’t a hot day, it was a rainy day. Here in Quebec we are not having much of a summer anyway.
I see this as an every day occurance when I goto town now that it`s summer. I make mental notes of the license plates and where the vehicle is so when i run i can see if they are still there. But suprise suprise 9 out of 10 cars that have an animal stuck inside on a hot day is from the GTA.
It`s disgusting. Last week it was so hot for me in the car with the windows down, drinking a slushy, very humid too boot! I look over and this middle aged woman pulls in and opens her passenger and drivers windows a few cm, seriously, for this massive great dane looking dog.
Omigod I felt so bad. At the same time my dad had come out and was talking to me I yelled loudly a long rant about people leaving their pets in the cars on hot days as she was walking passed us… I was actually cussing every 4 word and getting lots of looks than i said `ya that blonde old hag walking toward crappy tire locked that big dog in the car with the front windows open a crack!` some people looked for her but she rushed into the store. Dad took off before I could get out and chase her ass down. I wouldn`t let it go either I was so upset that i didn`t call the cops =(
It makes me sick when people leave animals and/or kids in the car alone… no matter what length of time. Leaving a child in the car while the parent is not there, is neglect… lack of supervision to be exact. This is an issue that a child protection agency will get involved with.
I never go shopping with my cats but It’s so negligent and inconscious to do that…. more sensibilation must be done
Awfull picture
The SPCA were given police rights for a reason for cases like this so some Animal Services can help, I know from personal experience, neither will come out within the 10 mins that can make a difference for a dog in a car. After 25 mins of this poor dog crying in the car and frantically running from window to window, having the mall call out the license plate over the PA system, someone broke a window, about 5 mins before the police got there and gave him a lecture and asked the dog owner if he wanted to press charges
Faith, do call, even though some can’t do anything, they can keep a ‘Do Not Adopt’ list of people for when they try to ‘replace’ that animal
Is it acceptable to leave the dog in the car if you have the air on? I have a button starter and if I have to run into the store real quick (never more then 5 mins) my windows are up and the air is on for my doggie I am sure he is one of the lucky ones. But if you don’t have the same luxury as myself keep your pets at home on hot days you know yourself if you sat in a car with the windows down for 5 mins in this heat you would die why would you let your poor pet suffer?
Our pups are spending the weekend with mom….its too hot to even take them boating with us this weekend!! Sad to see animals locked in a hot car!! WTH are they thinking!!!
Yep, I would break the window to save a distressed animal and worry about the consequences later. An animal is saved from distress or dying…charge me for that if you want, I know I would have done the right moral thing.
If you broke a window to free a dog from a hot car and you were charge, I highly doubt there would be much of a penalty for you to pay once you explained to the judge the reason for breaking the window in the first place.
Ha! Report it to the police — they can’t be trusted:
“Bystanders became concerned Wednesday after an off-duty RCMP officer left his police dog in an unshaded car while he was on a boat in Goldstream, B.C., the CBC’s Natalie Clancy reports.” (CBC News
Posted: Jul 6, 2011 7:47 PM PT )
Last week a dog died in a car on the south shore of Npva Scota with the windows down considerablly and water left for it. Hot days, no animal should be left alone in a car no matter what you do.
I understand taking your dog to the vet or the beach and running into the store for 5 minutes to grab a jug of milk, but seriously? Long trips…. People are so ridiculous, last weekend I was at a park and police were breaking into a vehicle, I asked what happened and apparently this poor puppy was left in the car with the windows down a 5th of a cm for almost 5 hours!
It happened around here recently where a police officer left his dog in the car during a hot day while he went on a boat for a few hours. People called the police but they said they couldn’t do anything because the dog was trained to attack. Didn’t hear a peep from the SPCA about this story. Makes someone a bit cynical about who can and can’t get away with this.
Clearly Photoshopped
I would never, EVER leave my baby in my car in this heat! Not even for a second. As soon as I put him in the car (which is like an oven), his face is getting red. I crank the A/C and make sure we’re not out too long. If you wouldn’t lock yourself in a 40 degree box with no air or water, don’t do it to a baby/pet.