A cautionary tale: A neighbor nearly killed his dog today in a hot truck

Beautiful golden lab, she jumped in the back cab of the truck when my neighbor was getting ready to take the garbage to the collection point at the end of our road and he didn't really register she was in there, he hadn't called her to get in the truck but like a lot of dogs who like to ride she will jump in an open vehicle often and he had left the door open for a moment or two with the engine running while he collected some other refuse from the yard.

When he got back from taking the garbage he had no idea she was in the back seat and pulled the truck up under the trees to park, got out and closed the door, dog never made a sound sitting in the back seat. Neighbor goes off to work with car pool shortly after parking the truck.

About three hours later his wife is calling for the dog loudly and rather upset, I heard, came out and asked what was going on and she told me the dog never goes missing and is always there when she calls. She actually had rested her head on the truck at one point and not realized the dog was in the back seat, it hadn't yet gotten really hot in the car because it was still in the shade of the trees.

Anyway, wife eventually decides to drive around the neighborhood calling the dog and chooses the truck she doesn't normally drive since it's higher and she could maybe see a bit better while searching, that's when she found dog, still OK..

Two minor chances saved the really beloved pet's life today, guy pulls the truck further under the trees than he often does and his wife decided to drive the truck rather than her car.

I realized that I've actually had this happen to me too when I came to think of it but it happened at night, my dog jumped in the car when I had only opened the door to get something out of the door pocket and I didn't notice and just closed the door. Then spent two hours looking in panic only to find her when I went to drive around the neighborhood.

If it's happened to my neighbor and it's happened to me it can and will happen to others. If you have pets that like to jump in the car please be careful if there's any chance they might do so without you noticing.