I’m going to give all you readers the benefit of the doubt and assume that you would never, ever leave an animal in a car on a hot day. (Or on a freezing cold day, for that matter.)
I know, I know, it was only for a few minutes or the AC was left on for them, but why risk the safety of your fur baby for a little bit of convenience?
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Even on a day that’s relatively mild, it gets much hotter inside a car.
Think of it like a greenhouse trapping the heat and sunlight inside until it’s ready to grow some hothouse tomatoes.
On a 70° day, the inside of a car can reach 104° within 30 minutes and just keeps going up.
Imagine sitting in a car that hot. It would be miserable and sweaty, right?
Now imagine sitting there in a fur coat and not being able to sweat.
Because dogs don’t sweat the way humans do, they feel every degree so much more, and it’s not like they can choose to turn on the AC or get out of the car.
Most places have laws against leaving pets in locked cars.
Even with the windows cracked for ventilation, it’s not enough to make a real difference in how hot the car will get.
Often, there’s even a hotline you can call if you find an animal trapped in a vehicle, and that’s where Jason Minson of Norfolk, Virginia turned when he discovered a labrador puppy in a car.
Minson, who is an Army veteran and now owns a landscaping business, had gone out to the street to investigate a bang.
Another vehicle had bumped into a parked car, but when Minson went to check for damage, he found a confused pupper in the backseat.
The dog had been curled up in the footwell, but the jolt from being bumped brought it out and revealed how dire the situation was.
He immediately called 911, who dispatched help, but also informed him that breaking the window was a crime.
While waiting for help, Minson managed to give the puppy water through the sliver of open window. It drank two whole bottles.
An animal control officer arrived and tried to pry open the car door, but it wasn’t working. She had to radio for help.
But by this point, it had been about 20 minutes since Minson had first found the puppy.
It had laid back down on the floor and was no longer panting as quickly, which is a sign of heatstroke in dogs.
Fed up and fearing for the dog’s life, he told the cops that he didn’t care if he was charged and smashed the car window with the animal control officer’s baton.
As soon as the puppy was free, the officer put it in her van and rushed it to an urgent care animal clinic.
The owners of the vehicle were found and charged by the police. In the end, Minson wasn’t charged, but only asked to act as a witness.
The next day, he went to visit the pup, who was recovering and looking stronger.
As the owner of a Great Dane, Minson hopes that someone would help his dog if it were in a similar situation.
“Take care of your fur babies!” he said in a Facebook post about the incident.
h/t: The Dodo
