Woman angry about a dog in a hot car

[Anna]

I went to library today w my kids.  I was in the sci fi section - when all of a sudden I hear a VERY loud woman asking everyone in her path - if someone owned a nissan suv with a dog in the car.  

(Just a overview.  The temp is 87 - but really really humid.)

I heard a man - asking if the windows were rolled down?  the woman replied that the windows were rolled down but that it didn't matter b/c it was so hot and that the person needed to take their dog home.  I think then - asking people individually wasn't working - so she started almost yelling.  she proceeded to stomp thru the library - asking this repeatedly

 

Now - I'm not saying this woman's actions were wrong.  I have never left my pup in the car(but my main reason is that he can't be trusted to do so and also I would never leave a dog in a hot car) but I really think that she could have handled herself better.  Most people were staring at her and giving really odd looks and muttering that - it wasn't any of her business.

I think there are a couple issues here. 

1.  Its the library (where its really quiet). 

2. 87 degrees (which is not unbearably hot)  but very humid

3.  she wasn't "asking"   She seemed really confrontational. 

 

I tried to think - what would have been a better way..  I was thinking - maybe talking to someone in the library = who could make some sort of an announcement or maybe call the police or maybe leave a note - I don't know.  I know it can be very bad for the dog - but I feel like this woman came off as - one of those crazy obsessive pet people - on a war path.

 

I myself did not see the dog or the car.

what do you guys think would have been the right thing to do?

  

[ClarkP]

See Andy... your response would have been SO much nicer than mine!  :-)  I don't respond as well to people putting me on blast when they don't have the facts straight.  I'm working on it.

 

I also agree completely that I was the exception.  For one, I don't know anyone else whose dogs are trained well enough to stay in a car with all the windows all the way down.  Our current dogs certainly aren't at this level.  Dogs being left in cars in hot weather is almost always a threat to the well-being of the dog.

[AndySharon BoomerShaynaMariner]

:-)

[Jen, Lachlan, and Declan]

Years and years ago I was working in a grooming shop in a strip mall. A customer came in and told me that there was a car out front with the windows up and two dogs locked inside; she had already run through all the stores in the mall frantically looking for the owner because the dogs appeared to be in distress. This was mid-summer and the temperature was in the high 90's. I ran outside and looked to see that both dogs were collapsed and one appeared unconscious. I immediately called the police, who turned up very quickly (small town) and broke out a window so we could rush the dogs inside and start bringing their temperatures down.

About the time the local animal control showed up and the dogs started to come around, the owner showed up screaming about her car window being broken and her dogs stolen. I honest to Dog thought she was going to attack me and was happy the police were still there! Once the dogs were breathing normally the animal control officer took possession of them and explained to her that she'd have to pick them up at the shelter after they'd received medical attention; in the meantime the police wrote her a ticket for a very large fine and she had to listen to a very stern lecture from both.

Yeah, the lady could have handled it better perhaps, but her perception of the situation may have been that the dog's life was in danger. Even with the windows rolled down the interior of a car heats up very quickly when it's stationary. It's hard to know what to do in that situation.

[Camilla and Darwin]

I probably wouldn't have yelled and been confrontational, but I definitely would have immediately tried to find the owner or someone to let it out. 87 degrees is VERY hot in a car, even without closed windows. The disruption to the library is really trivial when you consider that a dog's life might have been at stake.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I have to say I would have done exactly what the "crazy" lady did, library or not. The dog's life was at stake. 87 degrees to a dog is a lot different than it is to a person, even just being outdoors, let alone in a car. Dogs can't sweat and have no way to cool themselves except by panting.

Some facts about heat inside a car:

 

Heat inside a parked car can build, in just a few short minutes, to as much as 40 degrees above the outside temperature. For instance, on an 80 F day, temperatures in a parked car can reach 120 F in as little as ten minutes, especially if the car is in the sun. Leaving the windows cracked helps very little and that's only IF there's a breeze. Factor in humidity and the dog doesn't have a snowball's chance!

Read more at Suite101: Dogs and Heat Stroke: Understanding the Risks of Overheating | Suit... http://www.suite101.com/content/dogs-and-heat-stroke-a1959#ixzz1SV8...

I have asked people and/or called the police at a restaurant, a shopping plaza, and a post office because of some idiot having left a dog in a car, and it was not as hot as 87 degrees. There is never, never any reason to leave a dog in a car. Someone's convenience doesn't begin to compare to a dog's life, and neither does having some stranger in a public place think you're crazy. I agree that it would be best to try not to be confrontational, but unfortunately, it's often the only way to get somebody's attention.

[Sue, Murphy and Bella ()*o*()]

I agree that it's not what she was doing but HOW she was doing it. Library or not, an announcement by the proper person would have been more appropriate. I have to say that if I could assess if the dog was friendly, I would have taken him out of the car too and brought him inside with me. That might have gotten the owners attention a lot quicker!  I have lived in 87 degrees and high humidity and it is VERY uncomfortable for us, especially in the sun and no breeze. And I have the ability to sip on a cool drink while in the car too. He didn't I assume.

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

I'm crazy.  This could have been me.  I have called the police too.

[Sally, Echo and Emmi]

My friend just lost her beautiful goldendoodle exactly this way. The lady wasn't crazy. Sounds like the dogs didn't have time for her to go around asking quietly. I would have done the same thing.

[Taylor & Huff]

I agree that she could have handled it better. I read at the vet that dogs can get heat stroke, even in 70 degree weather. The main cause of heat stroke is a dog being contained in a car for a long period of time in hot weather. She could have asked everyone individually, QUIETLY. I mean its a library for goodness sakes.

[Carol Brand]

87 degrees in a car even with the windows down can be fatal to a dog.  Marching through the library is counter productive.

 

What I have done in the past is call the police.  They come with Animal Control.  If they think the dog is in danger, they confiscate the dog (breaking into the car if necessary).  Then the owner gets a ticket for endangering an animal and typically has to pay Animal Control some sort of fee to get his dog back.

 

This gets the message across quite quickly.

[L.M.]

I'm glad you shared this about calling the police.....I never knew if they would actually do anything about it.

[Camilla and Darwin]

Lindsay, it depends on where you live. Some states have laws in place against leaving your dog in the car. Others don't. And the fine, and measures to protect the dog vary as well.