Dog left in car at supermarket

[Sparklingtonic12]

I'd popped into a large supermarket earlier. When I returned to my car I saw parked opposite me was a black van with a staffy type dog sitting in the front. It had the passenger window cracked open slightly. The dog was panting alot.

I looked around and couldn't see anyone coming back. You obviously don't know how long the owner will be. Could be 5/10 mins, could be 20 or more.

So I decided to go into tescos and approach customer services. I was polite and said someone has left a dog in the car with the window down a small amount and it's panting alot. She kind of laughed and said in my experience most people come in and grab stuff and then go back out, usually if I call over the tanoy they get irritated. I replied that there was no way of knowing how long someone was going to be and not everyone is 5 mins. She then shrugged and I did get a bit cross and said don't worry about it then you obviously don't think it's important and I walked out. I sat in my car a further 10 mins and luckily the owner did come out but that poor dog.

It was fairly warm in my area.today too. It does not take long for a car to heat up in this heat. 5 or 10 mins could make a dog really poorly. It also had a short nose and these dogs are renowned for breathing issues.

Aibu to have gone into tesco and said something to customer services. I don't know what else I could have done really. Also was Ibu to be annoyed that the staff member did not really care about the welfare of an animal?

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“Also was Ibu to be annoyed that the staff member did not really care about the welfare of an animal?”

You are being unreasonable to assume that a minimum wage worker didn’t care about ‘animal welfare’ so much as the supermarket protocols and doing what it takes to keep their job.

Tbh it was a difficult situation for you and for the member of staff you spoke to.

You weren't sure what to do about the poor dog but you were caring enough to do something, which was going into the shop to report what was happening in the carpark.

The staff member also probably didn't have a clue what to do. I don't think it's that they didn't care. The staff member will be trained to expect and deal with a range of situations but this situation was not one they would have had to deal with before.

I'm really glad the dog was OK. and good on you for being prepared to take action.

The police here respond really quickly to these situations.

Of course YWNBU but I'm sure you know that.

If the member of staff (not sure why a PP is bringing up their take home wage?) wasn't willing to call on the tanoy, I would've asked to speak to a manager.

Shop in Waitrose they would have called over the tannoy

They would've treated the dog to a spa day.

When this happened in ASDA when I was there a member of public had already broken the dog out and called the police. The police came and gave the dog owner a talking to and told the person who wouldn't expand on how he knew how to pick car locks that he did the right thing, they would have got the dog out but if we didn't think it could wait it was reasonable to break the dog out in hot weather.

I would contact the store manager, personally, and ask whether it’s store policy that they don’t put a call out over the tannoy. If it is, then it needs to be changed. If it isn’t, then the woman you spoke to should have advised you to go find someone else if she wasn’t comfortable doing it.

Dogs die in hot cars. If you notice it again I would call the police.

It was Tesco, not the RSPCA. Its not their problem.

Meanwhile, 3 kids and 17 adults sat in other cars with the windows shut that you didn’t notice.

What the fuck has the staff member's salary got to do with anything?

Yanbu OP and staff member's attitude was hopeless. I'd follow this up with an email to the store manager saying that staff urgently need more training if they don't understand the danger to life (for children and animals) from being left in a car on a sunny day.

WTF?

Kids and adults who could get out of the car if they started to feel uncomfortably hot?

You should have called the police, on the basis that you could not break a window and open the vehicle door.

The law should be changed, leaving a dog in a car without open windows should carry a long driving ban, no exceptions at all.

Yes and not surprisingly there has been cases where people have left there kids in hot cars and they have died. An adult can open a door and step outside the car. A young child/baby or animal cannot. What a silly reply

I agree however the amount the window was open was not going to do much to bring down the car temp.

Was it a car or a van? You have said both.

A van is bigger and is going to take longer to heat up.

It was a small black van, the back was blocked off so the space was only the front 2 seats so it would heat up quicker.

You're lovely and did the right thing, the staff member is an idiot low wages or not it's called being human and caring

They can talk and open windows, dogs can't

It's embarrassingly obvious isn't it? 🙈

The more I think about it the more angry I feel at the lack of caring this woman had. She was kind of laugh and saying we'll in my experience.... well how does she know how long the customer has been in the store. She isn't mystic Meg! She was trying to make out I was making a deal out of nothing

That's why I would've asked to speak to a manager or someone else.

My local Morrisons always get complaints about dogs left in cars on hot days, and the staff are very caring and concerned.

Just shoving more shit towards Tesco staff. How about dealing with what you witnessed yourself instead of passing on the buck?
Next time you feel a similar level of concern - approach the car, see if the door's open, see if the dog's alright. If it all looks concerning, write down the number plate & phone the police. If the dog is deteriorating and no police yet, then flag down a burly bloke and with tools to hand (tire iron, litter bin) smash in the window. Wait for the police to arrive. Congrats, you've saved the dog! 🎉💐
But that's too much take on, isn't it? It's much easier to be a dick towards a random shop employee.

I wonder what would happen without the miracle that apparently the tannoy is? What even are the magic words to get a man&van&bull-type breed kind of guy to speed up the purchase of his beers and baccie?