Had an incident with a woman this morning who’d left her dog in a hot car.

[SquashMeDown]

Went to town this morning, when I arrived and parked there was a car nearby with a dog barking and sounding upset.

I went to get a parking ticket and saw that a man was already watching the dog.

The windows were open a tiny bit but there were wind deflectors in the windows so only about a mm of ventilation. It’s a sunny day, and the temperature just over 20°.

The man then left but took a photo of the car.

I hung around for a few minutes wondering what to do. I was just going to get a drink, so took a photo of the outside of the car with its number plate, with the intention of coming straight back and deciding what to do. In all this took about 10 minutes.

As I was leaving a woman came up to me and aggressively told me to delete the photo, that she didn’t give me permission to take the photo. I pointed out I was worried about her dog so had hung around and didn’t want it to be hurt or die. She was so rude and aggressive, claimed she’d only been a couple of minutes (she wasn’t, she was at least 10 minutes). I stood my ground and explained I was just looking out for her dog, but she was so awful - she could have been lovely about it and appreciated that someone was looking out for her poor dog, but no, she was defensive and turned it all round on me.

AIBU for thinking that leaving a dog in a hot car for over 10 minutes is fucking cruel, and she did nothing to help herself by being so angry and rude?
Or should I just have minded my own business?

What a load of hyperbolic nonsense clearly written by someone who doesn’t own a dog! In the middle of winter or autumn it’s perfectly fine to leave a dog in the car ffs! Some dogs cannot be left at home or they’ll howl the entire time and/or destroy the house and/or themselves! Even in a crate. Especially rescue dogs…. Yet many of these dogs are perfectly happy in a cool car, knowing their owner is nearby. Educate yourself!

Car was in full sun, the windows were cracked open but as there were wind deflectors in they covered all of the open part.

What sort of car was it? Lots of modern cars, mine included, have “dog mode” or the ability to leave the Aircon running for a set amount of time. My car has heavily tinted windows so the dog isn’t really visible in the boot anyway, but I do still leave her to nip into the shop even in summer because I know she’s cool enough with the car the temperature of a fridge.

Awww my dog has been mad at me as well !!! Took him out 10pm last night for a walk ! I don’t take him out in this heat he doesn’t understand !!
I burnt my legs getting in my car yesterday god know a how hot it wud be for a dog !

Don't wait 10". It's hotter in the car than outside.

Here, someone would call the cops and they would bust a window. If the dog seemed in distress, some might bust the window while waiting for the cops.

Fuck her animal abusing ass.

From RSPCA website.

What to do if you see a dog in a car on a warm day
First, assess the dog's condition. If they're showing any signs of heatstroke dial 999 at once.

If the dog's condition is critical, and the police haven't arrived yet, your instinct will be to break into the car to free them. But please be aware that this could be classed as criminal damage. You may need to defend your actions in court, so please be sure you're doing the right thing. Legally, you can commit damage if you believe the car owner would consent to it if they knew the dog was in danger.

If you're sure you need to free the dog, tell the police what you intend to do and why. Take photos or videos of the dog. Are there any other witnesses? Take their names and telephone numbers.

Don't be afraid to dial 999. If it's an emergency, we may not be able to get to you - and the dog - quickly enough. And as we have no powers of entry, we'd need to ask the police to help us rescue the dog. Don't worry - the police will soon let us know if the dog needs our help.

You did exactly the right thing.

Last week I went past a car that had the engine turned on but was empty of humans There was a massive dog inside it and a plastic bespoke printed sign attached to the inside of the window saying 'we have the airconditioning on for our dog. he is fine and here is our number if you wish to call us'.

I thought that was a great idea.

I'm Australian and every summer we have advertisements about the dangers of leaving dogs in cars. (and the dangers of walking dogs on hot footpaths or sand) I have never seen that here and have certainly seen (and reported) dogs in cars on hot days here.

Thankfully someone said it, 20 degrees is not hot. I thought I was going mad for a minute

I was full on reading that and thinking 'good on you' OP.

So I was really disappointed to read this nonsense....

"AIBU for thinking that leaving a dog in a hot car for over 10 minutes is fucking cruel, and she did nothing to help herself by being so angry and rude?
Or should I just have minded my own business?"

Why must people do this??

Why not just make a post to raise awareness, or even to slate the idiot who left her dog in a hot car?

No-one would argue with that but the bit at the end just makes you look ridiculously disingenuous.

It's not just you though, a lot of MNetters end a blindly obvious AIBU with a fake question.

When my phone app read 20 degrees two weeks ago, my car was reading 28.

It would be much easier if you could explain to them! My two have been repeatedly asking to go out and think I’m being most unfair in saying no! They went out very briefly earlier this morning and will go out this evening, but they’re very grumpy atm…

People who think 20deg is fine, think about how greenhouses work. Then imagine sitting in one on a summer's day with your fur coat on

(Where I am in the South, it was already hotter than that outside at 8am, however)

Yeah i accidentally got locked in our car once for ten minutes on a warm day.

I'll be honest I did start to panic a bit, there's no air and you can feel it gradually getting warmer😳

Cars get warm very quickly. After that experience I wouldn't hesitate ringing the police if I saw a dog in a car.

The car was standing in full sun, the windows barely open but with wind deflectors that affect ventilation.

I was out of my car for just over 10 minutes and it was like an oven.

For all of those saying 20 degrees is not hot, it would have been significantly hotter inside the car, especially as it was parked in the sun.
I've seen a chart explaining this, I'll see if I can find it.

What was she supposed to do? Break the windows?

Have you never stepped into a greenhouse?

Well done OP. Don't delete the photo. Next time though ring 999.

You definitely did the right thing. I don't know why some people have dogs if they can't look after them properly.

Me and DH walked our dog at 10pm yesterday after checking that the pavement was not hot. This morning he was walked in the woods at 6am.

He is presently asleep on the sofa with a fan blowing on him.

People are just aggressive cunts. Poor doggy

This explains how hot cars get on the inside.

If you ring the police and explain the situation, they may well tell you to do just that. It happened here not long ago when two dogs were left locked in a car.

Link to explanation of heatstroke in dogs
Explains how dangerous it can be.

20 in the street could be 35/40 in the car. She got angry cos you were right.

Why do people take their dogs out in the car on a hot day instead of leaving them at home?