AIBU to consider reporting this woman?

[TiltTopTable]

On Sunday at about 3pm DH and I stopped at a large supermarket on our way home from a day out. Supermarket policy is to shop alone unless necessary so DH went in alone. It was so hot in the car, even with the sunroof open, so after 5 mins I got out, and noticed 2 dogs in the boot of the car next to us. Poor things were panting and the car was parked so they had no shade. One window was open about 8 inches.

I waited a couple more minutes for the owner, then took a photo of the car and went into the store to report. The security guard was great. He came out with me, said it was unacceptable, took a photo and went back into the store. I waited by the car. 5 minutes later (so 15 mins at this point, but I don't know how long the dogs had been left before we arrived) a woman arrived with her shopping, looking very annoyed.

We had a 'conversation'. She had been called over the tannoy. She said I was mad and ridiculous, that she'd only been a couple of minutes. I said that was false, as I'd been here 15 minutes. She was pointing at the open window saying 'look, look - AND they have a bowl of cold water!' I said sorry, but that's not enough. I explained I'd been sat in my car with the sunroof open and I couldn't bear it, and I'm not wearing a fur coat. She asked me twice if I wanted a smack, I said no not really (it was a bit surreal, she was tiny and elderly so her threats seemed ridiculous). I was very calm - she was irate. She got the bowl of water out shouting it was cold water, I said that was immaterial, it wasn't enough and the dogs were suffering. She then threw the bowl of water at me. Most of it missed me but I did get wet (she got wetter though 😄). I said calmly I could report you for that, and she shouted 'Go on then. The police will think you're ridiculous'. At this point DH turned up to a scene of a wet wife and an angry tiny woman. So we got in the car with her still shouting and drove off. I think she threw something at the car but not sure.

We laughed about it then but now I'm getting angry. Angry that those dogs were suffering and she wouldn't/couldn't understand and angry that she basically assaulted me. Would you take this further? Can I take it further with just a photo of her car? Should I just forget it? I'm sure the supermarket would have cctv of the incident but would I be pathetic to report?

I would report her. She clearly doesn't give a toss about her dogs if she cannot see the issue with leaving them in the car on the hottest day of the year.

I would.
I drove for a couple of hours on Sunday.
I put my dog on the front seat and parents in the back of the car so he could benefit from the air conditioning.

I’m confused to how there’s even one vote on YABU to be honest.
Poor dogs

Yes I would report this. She clearly didn’t think she was at fault so the chances are she will leave the dogs in the car again. So for that reason I would definitely report it,

Yea report she may kill her dogs

Horrible woman! Well done for looking out for those dogs. I can't understand why people do this. I would report her just because it might make her think twice.

I would report definitely.she shouldn't have dogs if she refuses to leave them like that. I know what you mean about how hot it is in the car I've been driving with all the windows open and the sun roof (old car = no a/c) and it's still hot in the car, I friends baby in the car with me the other day and I kept panicking it would be too hot for her.

Yes, I would report her, she clearly thinks it's fine to do it and will just do it again otherwise.

Thanks for the support. Would you report to the police or RSPCA?

I agree you should report too. You did all the right things.

You could do both - report her to the police for assaulting you. Not much will probably happen but they may go and have a word. You can't go around throwing things at people.

I don't know why you didn't get the supermarket security initially?

She needs reporting but sadly going by experience nobody cares. The RSPCA are useless.

I'd report to both police and RSPCA (the latter unlikely to do much)
Technically she assaulted you, normally I'd not bother with reporting that, but the dog incident would make me. The police may speak to her regarding the dogs too, but they won't do much else on that front.

You might have don't the best thing for her dogs though , when I moved here in the middle of a heatwave a couple of summers ago I saw a man on a mobility scooter going very fast with his little dog running along the road behind it , the dog was really struggling , I said loudly so he could hear do you think that's ok in this weather ? Your dog is distressed it's too hot to make him run , he gave me a real mouthful of abuse and said the dog was ok , I saw him the next day too and we did a stand off stare , I very obviously took a photo and didn't see him again after that
So maybe you have given her a wake up call ? She might not do it again .
But yes I think this woman you encountered was dreadful , she was cruel to the dogs and quite happy to attack you verbally and physically with an independent witness watching , I would ring the police and rspca ,even if it only makes her think twice in the future

*done

I would report to both RSPCA and the police - she assaulted you too. What a vile woman, she doesn’t give a shit about her dogs and does not deserve to have them.

Please report to both.

I think that the law on leaving animals in vehicles should be tougher. Not only should her dogs be rehomed, I would ban such people from driving.

We went for a walk on Sunday morning and cut it short because it was too hot for the dog.
No way would I leave her in a car at all in this heat.

Report. She needs a thermometer in her car to see how hot it gets and how quickly. Poor dogs :(

RSPCA for dogs.
Police for the assault.

Bloody good on you for alerting the store too. Again, poor dogs :(

You did the right thing.

Did the security guard get the licence plate in the photo they took? If so, might be worth reporting to the police (the animal neglect + the assault). Don’t be too surprised if they don’t do much about it, though.

The RSPCA are currently only dealing with very serious and immediate cases of abuse at the moment, as far as I know, due to lack of funding. I think if you phoned them up, you wouldn’t get to talk to a human for something like this. But other posters may know better.

If a grown woman still doesn’t realise that dogs die within minutes in hot cars then she should not have dogs as she is obviously as thick as shit.
I wouldn’t hesitate to call the police but not the RSPCA I’ve called them several times during the last few years and they’ve been next to useless.

I would and I have before, have reported it to the police after a five minute wait for the owner.
Dogs die in hot cars and they die in absolute agony.
Imagine being strapped into a fur coat that you can't remove and then being locked in a tiny metal room which you can't get out of and the temp is around 100 degrees and rising.
Absolute bastards, the lot of them!

I have the registration number on my photograph. I'll call the police for advice. I'd love to make that woman sit in a hot car wearing a fur coat for 15 minutes so that she appreciates what torture it is for her dogs.

She doesn't deserve to have dogs or any animal for that matter. Report her to the police I don't think RSPCA will do anything