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?

Being honest, how many people take notice of what is announced on a tanoy anyway? Most of the time, it is aimed at staff, and some people shop with headphones on.

The window was open and the owner came back within a few minutes as the staff member predicted.

And maybe it's just my "large supermarket" but the tannoy calls seem unavailable to customer's ears - they don't hear a call to evacuate, they don't hear that the card payments are down, they don't hear that the shop's closing in 10mins, nor that their child Eloise has been found by the bakery.
I wouldn't think it's a reliable way to communicate something if it's a real danger situation.

Quite a few years ago when an Aldi opened near us, I went in to complain about a dog being left in a car. No customer service so approached one of the till workers and asked her to announce it over the tannoy. She looked at me blankly as she didn't know what a tannoy was, when I explained she said they didn't have one!

Beat me to it.

I would have broke the window. charges be damned. they would have a bigger charge if they chose to chase me for the money lol. I have two large standard poodles. We live in a very hot climate. (dominican republic) they love car rides.. so every grocery day we all load in the car. My husband parks in the cooler underground parking with the air on while I shop and they have fun watching everyone. I would never hesitate to break a window here or back in canada. ever.

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?

What a delightful stereotype. Where did that come from? Is that because the OP thinks the dog was a Staffie?

I don't think you're allowed to break a window in the UK unless you have a justifiable reason that you are willing to stand by in court for criminal damage to a car

Well, there is a man, there is a van and there is a Staffy type dog with a short nose (otherwise known as a Bull-breed of some type). Bet he wore grey tackies too.

Where's the issue? Are you concerned of the opinion I hold of the animal above who leaves his dog in a hot car? I'm sure the poor flake will cope.

You’re making loads of judgements and assumptions that are baseless. I’m sure you know what you’re doing. It’s really uninformed and wrong to just assume what someone is like based on their dog breed.

you may be right...but in canada and also the dominican republic, they may take me to court. I would win as this is a chargeable offence. I do not care if i did not win. I would still pay the fine to save a life

I'm not going by his dog breed.

But well done on your worthy cause and standing up for justice 👏

I bet he had tattoos 😂

What are you going by, then? I’m not standing up for justice. All I’m saying is the things you’ve posted on here are stereotypes that are just wrong.

then charged you 4 times the normal price

also is a dog panting inside in a closed vehicle a good enough reason..good enough for me. No pet owner that is responsible and loves their dog/cat/goat whatever... would ever leave them in a hot car..so yup I will break the window ( I actually my daddy ( we grew up in belfast) gave me a spike thing when I got my license in canada...said it will always break a window. Thanks dad.

You may think they're wrong but I'd bet my savings on what living in a less-than salubrious area has taught me.

It has also taught me that being all het up about stereotypes is a sign of a middle class boredom, whilst in these parts it can be a useful safety mechanism.

Your misplaced worries don't bother me at all - it's rather amusing how trigger happy the folk are these days.

Wanna' know how I can tell that the migrants in the house opposite are not Doctors? No, thought not 😉

Can tell you’re not from rural Scotland. We would look at you with two heads. Luckily we don’t get the heat but no-one would think anything of leaving our dogs for 10 mins when nipping into the shops, usually on the way back from a big walk with them.

Ah the classic "it's not my problem". This is what is wrong with our society these days.
Good citizenship shouldn't need a standard operating procedure set of rules.

Obviously no one would think because as you stated you are from rural Scotland and not from down south. So not really the same situations

Well in my line of work if we all took the it's not my problem stance then alot of bad things would happen.

Classic bystander effect with most people. I'm glad I'm not one and speak up

Would it have actually hurt the woman to put a message out on the tannoy that an animal in a black van was in some distress and would the owner attend their vehicle immediately.
Far too simple I suppose.

How is getting ‘het up about stereotypes’ a ‘sign of middle class boredom’? It’s got nothing to do with class. Using stereotypes, though, is a sign of intolerance and intellectual laziness.

You did absolutely the right thing and I'd be complaining about the member of staff for not being bothered about this.

A few years ago I saw a dog in a car outside my work. It was a very hot day. I called the police. They came promptly, broke the window and helped the dog out, giving it a drink. When the owner came back after a few minutes he was very cross and said "I wasn't in very long". I said "One minute is long enough". The next time he came to us he made a point of saying he was just dropping something off and his dog would be fine. I said if he left it for longer than a minute I'd be calling the police again. People are stupid. Thank you for caring about the dog.

@LittleCharlotte
And what did the OP do when someone wasn't bothered to follow her instruction? Nothing. Nothing the same as the Tesco employee.

Well done for calling the police with your concerns.