two dead dogs in a week

posting this story in the hope that people remember how hot a car can get and it doesn't take much to end a life.
www.seattletimes.com
a dog's love is such a wonderful thing. please remember how susceptible dogs are to heat.

black lab dog died Thursday after being left for several hours in a hot car on Bainbridge Island. It's the second dog to die in a hot car in the area in the past week. In the Bainbridge Island case, the dog's owner told police she had forgotten she had left her dog in the stifling hot car for some time. The temperature outside ranged from 70 to 80 degrees Thursday, but the temperature in the car ranged from 110 to 120 degrees and the windows were closed, according to Bainbridge police. The woman told police she returned home about 11 a.m. and forgot the female dog, named Bear, had been in the car with her. She began searching for her dog several hours later and found her in the car. Police believe the dog may have been in the car for four hours.

Sue Shultz of the Bainbridge police said "it doesn't take long to affect a dog in this heat." Police said the woman was "inconsolable" when she called them to say her dog was dead. The Kitsap County Animal and Rescue enforcement office will investigate and may forward the case to the county prosecutor for possible charges.

In the other case, a pit bull died last Sunday while its owners were at Hempfest, according to Don Jordan, with Seattle Animal Control. He said the owners, realizing their dog was not allowed at the festival, put the dog in their car at 6 p.m. and when they returned to their car at 8 p.m. the dog was dead. He said Animal Control will refer the case to the city attorney's office for possible charges

Police said the dogs' deaths are a reminder that people should leave their animals at home if the temperature is over 70 degrees.

Those poor animals.

Particularly the first one, since it was an accident. She must have felt so terribly bad about it. But why on earth did she call the police?

it says she talked to police. she could have called animal rescuse (thinking there was a chance of resuscitation, and they notified police) or any # of other scenarios.

It could have been sloppy writing by the author. It makes more sense that she would call the animal rescue.

"Police said the woman was "inconsolable" when she called them to say her dog was dead."

i TOTALLY missed that. good call. my bad.

fwiw, as somebody who works in emergency services (former firefighter, current cop), calling 911 in a crisis is almost reflexive. it doesn't surprise me. sure, in the back of her mind she might have realized she could get cited, but in times like these that's not a primary concern.

but you are right. i stand corrected about the phone thang

I have a police scanner (used to be a reporter, now just a curious person) and I often hear ambulances having to respond to what sound like frivolous calls. My favorite was a call to a nearby swimming hole for someone who had a leech on them.

Many years ago we saw a small dog locked in a car in a Trader Joe parking lot on a 100 degree afternoon. The dog appeared to be in some distress and was panting heavily. To make matters worse there was a bumper sticker on the car that announced that the owner was a veterinarian. I was so pissed I went back to my truck for a hammer to bust open a window but the owner returned before I got there. She gave me a ration of shit (It was none of my business and she knew better than I did what was safe for her dog) and drove off in a snit.

I didn't have my cell phone with me but I called the cops when I got home and gave them the license number. I have no idea what they did (or what they even COULD do under the circumstances) but I've often wondered whatever happened to that poor dog.

i was on routine patrol (like there really is such a thing, but i digress) and some guy flagged me down in a large mall parking lot. he directed me to a car with a dog inside. it was about 80 degrees outside and i can;'t imagine how hot it was inside (all the windows were rolled up).

there was a dog inside that was CLEARLY in distress. i ran the plate, but that wasn't really helpful. this was a mall with about 10 stores. what was i gonna do - run to each store and have them do a PA announcement?

i said "fuck it" and smashed the window with my baton. (no, we don't carry slim jims). another guy ran up and wetted the dogs fur down, and another poured some water out and let the dog lap it up. i felt so badly for the dog. needless a say, a little crowd had formed at this point

the car owner arrived about 5 minutes after i smashed the window. i gave him my name and said he was free to make some sort of complaint if he thought my window smashing was unjustified. but, i also got the name of the person who flagged me down, and two of the bystander to cover my ass. i had little doubt that he would lose any appeal to my agency to reimburse him for the window. he was actually pretty cool about it. i tried not to "perform my inner voice" and somehow was able to use discretion and not call the guy every name in the book , but it was hard. i don't want animals to suffer, and this pooch was SO happy to get some water.

my sgt. came to the scene and he was totally cool. said he would have done the same thing for a dog. an animal control guy responded and basically gave the guy a warning, not a cite, which i was ok with, as long as i was convinced the guy knew how dangerous what he did was. his punishment so to speak was paying for a new window.

just a random hot dog story, but one i thought i'd share

You handled it perfectly.

was handing out a "temperature" reminder for people to keep in their cars. It changes the color when it is too hot to leave the dog in the car even for a minute. I keep it on my dashboard as a reminder. I don't like to leave him in the car anyway, but I do it when the weather is cooler.

do you put your dog in the car and FORGET?

I hate people like this with a passion

about five years ago a local man forgot to drop his infant daughter off at day care, went straight to work and left her in the car. She died. people can be idiots. My beagle would never allow me to leave her in the car.

a cop in a small community nearby left the drug dog in a hot patrol car and killed it. Sorry paulsby if that starts the cop-bashing. But true, sadly true.

i have no problem with that. it's just a story about what one cop did.

cops are human. they make mistakes.

it's no more cop bashing than it would be racism to say "a black guy robbed a bank today at 6pm and got away with the money."

about a dog locked in a Mitsubishi Eclipse. This is Florida, and it had to be 95 degrees out. No window cracked (not that it would have mattered). I told him that he needed to go into the store and find the owner and/or free the dog, because Statute designated this as felony cruelty.

He wanted to talk about it. Meanwhile the dog was obviously very distressed. Rent-a-cop unaware of laws...how absurd.

I handed a business card to the guard I had been talking to. My lawyer's card. Told him he'd need to make a call now.

I grabbed my boltcutters from my trunk and bashed in the rear hatch glass (the dog was in the front seat, and I didn't want to hurt him/her). I put one of my leashes around the dog and led him/her to my hatchback and a bowl that I poured water into.

Guard called the cops on me, who showed up and oddly enough, took the owner of the Eclipse into custody for felony animal cruelty.

Animal Services adopted the dog out to a new home.

I was sued by the owner of the car for being "malicious" in my attempt to free the dog. I was cleared because I didn't destroy her moonroof (far more expensive) and therefore clearing me of intent.

Sometimes, it is in your hands.

Thanks, Paul.

i only take one exception.

i wouldn't expect private security at winn dixie (or any other store) to know any part of the penal code, except shoplift laws.

they are there as eyes and ears, and to protect the property. they are not cops.

you did the right thing, fwiw.

i am also glad (but not surprised) that the cops who responded handled the incident correctly.

i don't know a cop who would fault you for breaking a window to free the dog. clearly, they would recognize it's a CIVIL MATTER.

If we see that a dog is in a car in the parking lot, we check to make sure the window is open on the care and if not we will go into the store and have them page for the owner of that car.

when I go shopping. But she can't understand why she can't go in the summer. If the temperature is any higher than 70, I won't leave her in the car.