Dogs left in cars?

[lanbro]

I work in the car park of a large garden centre. Yesterday a car alarm kept going off, for about half an hour, could see the car but nothing untoward until I decided to go over and there was a dog in it. It was about 20° here yesterday and only both front windows were open approx 5cm. Car not in the shade.

I took the reg and the garden centre staff put out a rather. I kept an eye on the car for another 10 minutes before going back in when they tannoyed again and eventually the customers appeared.

I said "you've left your dog in the car, it's hot out there", woman shouted at me, said she'd been regularly checking, which I disputed as I'd obviously been watching the car for 40 mins and never seen her. I also pointed out the garden centre is dog friendly and She could have taken him in! She accused me of creating drama and stormed off

5 minutes later I was sitting outside chatting with a colleague and she walks past, with the dog, staring at me. I told her to look all she wanted but I'd done nothing wrong. She accused me of slandering her to my colleague (We were actually talking about shoes) and said I had purposefully tried to embarrass her in front of her friends. I told her she'd embarrassed herself by leaving her dog in the car! So she shouts "who do you work for?" to which I replied "me, I own the business, complain to me" and she stormed off!

So, AIBU that she was completely in the wrong leaving her dog in car, particularly given the garden centre allows dogs?!

No dog should be left in a car. Ever. Even with the windows cracked open they get bloody hot. Dogs can't remove their fur. They slowly boil. They can die. They do die.

It is so cruel to do that to a dog! Thank you for keeping an eye on it and trying to help get he owners back!
The woman is obviously embarrassed, hope she realises what she has done. Sounds like she is just worried about herself and someone challenging her...

Good for you!!!

Well done you.

Some people are so stupid, they don't deserve to have dogs.

She was a dick. Dogs can die left in cars in these temperatures

Even if it was cold it's cruel to leave it with the alarm going off especially given their hearing is so much more sensitive than ours.

Yanbu, dogs can and have died through being left in cars.

Yanbu

However I was once seriously berated by a stranger for leaving my two dogs in the car while I popped to Tesco - I was gone 15 minutes (according to him - he timed me ), it was November and they were curled up and asleep! He shouted at me for 5 minutes before one woke and started barking at him. I still can't see that I was in the wrong.

At that temperature if I left the dog in the car I'd have reflective panels up, the boot open (I have a lockable tailgate dog guard) two powerful fans going, a water bowl available and a cool coat on the dog (we race and car is a resting space).
Not acceptable otherwise.

OP,

Definitely not you that was unreasonable.
You did exactly the humane and compassionate thing.

Well done for looking out for the dog's best interests. And for ensuring your premises are dog-friendly in hot weather, which will (hopefully) discourage others from subjecting their pets to similar to begin with.

(Feedback for you, and any other business owners, wondering if going to the trouble is even worth it, just for a mouthful of abuse and loss of a customer: if I heard a local manager had acted as you'd done, I'd go out of my way to support them, buy from them, and bloody well sing your praises to all family/ friends!
So you'd instead end up with a great reputation, and a whole load of new, appreciative, dog-lovers to up your takings ).

The reaction you got from that woman was no doubt entirely due to her guilt at having been called out for her own irresponsible actions.

Not that it should fall to you to have to do so, but it might be worth keeping to hand a few copies of this chart (pictured), to educate anyone else telling you it wasn't that hot outside...
An inch or two of open window won't reduce the car's interior temperature anywhere near enough to prevent heatstroke.

^ Oh, and I echo Beep's comments about the car alarm alone being distressingly painful on a dog's sensitive hearing.

Some people shouldn't be allowed to keep animals

You did the right thing OP, well done.

The advice where I live is to call the police.

And I would if I saw that.

I smashed someone's window at a country show a couple of years ago to rescue a visibly distressed dog, and I would do it again in a heartbeat if I felt any dog were in danger.

Some people are so fucking stupid it hurts.

Stupid, irresponsible cow.

I'd have called the police too.

Put a big sign up all over the car park saying

ANY VEHICLES LEFT WITH DOGS INSIDE WILL BE REPORTED TO THE POLICE

Just in case she's left in any doubt.

No dog should be left in a car. Ever.

As with all things to do with dogs, you can use some common sense. I do leave my dog occasionally for up to 40 minutes, if we have been walking with a friend. No more than this. In cool or cold (but not too cold) weather, with me going out to check on her.

Frilly,

Good for you...I wouldn't hesitate to do the same.
(I know the official advice is to call the police/ RSPCA etc., which I'd do just before breaking in, but every second counts when a visibly suffering animal is that far gone ).

Yeah - the police would want to be pretty quick, or I'd be smashing the window too.

Last summer, we witnessed two dogs being left all day in a shut caravan. The caravan was pitched opposite ours and we were spending a quiet day by the van just enjoying the lovely weather, so we knew when the owners left. They left early in the morning and did not return until teatime. We reported to the site managers who tried to contact the owners, but couldn't. They or we were on the verge of phoning the police when the owners eventually returned.

They had a massive argument with the site manager who had told them how unacceptable, cruel and against site rules their behaviour was. The idiots did not even think that they had done anything wrong!They were aggressive and threatening. They ended up leaving by mutual arrangement and cancelling their upcoming booking.

We kept a close eye on the dogs and made sure that they looked ok. Their pitch was shaded, so the dogs were luckily ok, although they went mad if anyone went near the pitch, so they were not calm and sleeping as owners insisted. We would have called the police if we thought it necessary. People like that should not have dogs.

We never leave our dog alone in car or caravan. It is simply too dangerous.

Koala,

Out of interest, are Aussies a lot more clued-up about dogs in cars, because they are used to dealing with heat regularly?

Marilyn - not sure, but I think probably yes.

I think people generally have more respect for the sun here, if that makes sense. We all know how utterly roasting a car can get in summer, even in the shade - from getting in one ourselves after 5 minutes in the shop!

Oh yes I had called the police first and their advice was to break the window.

I think people need to sit in a car for 10mins with the windows open a crack and feel how uncomfortable it is for themselves.

Good for you. Some people are so stupid they shouldn't have a dog. If I saw a dog that looked in distress in a car I would break the window.

I can't believe that people don't think about how hot a dog must get - they have a fur coat that they can't take off and they don't sweat. Can you imagine what an awful way to die, just slowly boiling to death

Yanbu, unfortunately the police don't always care

Well done. I constantly marvel at people who are apparently so clueless about leaving dogs shut in hit cars.

I have two dogs. I never leave them alone in the car, especially when the weather is warm. Cars are like ovens.