Is that a dog barking? I thought to myself as I left the coolness of the supermarket and headed back out into the August heat. I stopped, straining my ears to listen. Nothing.
I continued to my car breathing a deep sigh of relief. As I opened the door a huge wave of heat hit me in the face, I’d only been inside for 15 minutes, but in the dog days of August, 15 minutes was more than enough. Honestly, I hate going to grocery stores in the summer, 9 out of 10 times, I see or hear a dog that has been left in the car.
I put my groceries on the floor, started the car and turned to my head to the left to make sure the way was clear, and locked eyes with a sweet little pitty mix in the car next to me. As she stuck her little nose to the cracked window to sniff the air, my heart started pounding.
Son of a bitch! With shaking hands I pulled out my cell phone and dialed my local animal control only to discover they were already closed.
I backed the car up to a spot directly behind me, and dialed the police department.
There’s a dog in a car at my grocery store, I explained to the officer that answered the phone.
Is the car running? He asked in return.
I really can’t tell, I responded.
I gave him the make, model and license plate of the car, as well as the location they could find it, and I headed to the gas pumps.
I deliberately chose a pump where I could keep an eye on the car, so I could direct the police if need be. And then I waited watching the clock.
It had been ten minutes since I’d called the police and I had no idea how long the dog had been in the car before I came out of the store.
The car in front of me moved, so I switched into drive and moved forward. In those few precious seconds it took me to move my car, the owner came out of the store, got in her car and drove away.
I filled up my car, then called the police and let them know she left. I passed the cops as I left the complex. All told it was over 20 minutes from the time I called, until the time a cop finally responded.
Ultimately, I was grateful that the temperatures were in the low 80’s as opposed to the temps we’ve been having this week.
We’ve all shared the graphs and the graphics, and still we are constantly hearing about dogs being left in hot cars.
What needs to happen for people to understand that dogs don’t belong in cars while you shop? And what will it take for the cops to take this siriusly?
I’ve given this a lot of thought lately and I am considering carrying a small, flexible dryer hose in my car, so in these situations I could pipe some of the air conditioning from my car into the other car to help cool it down.
Or maybe I can bring a bat, brick or other owner window smashing device to help free a dog from a hot car.
If I had my way, I’d make the person sit in that hot car for the same amount of time and in the same conditions they left their dogs.
Of course what I’d really like is a Dolores Umbridge pen, and I would make them write, “Dogs die in hot cars” until the message was clear.
Without that special pen though, maybe a blunter message is needed? I turned to Delilah, the dog who tells it like it is.
A public service announcement from Delilah.
Do you think they’ll get the point?
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That is so frustrating! Poor pup! 🙁
Dogs in hot cars, kids in hot cars – WHAT IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE??? Ugh.
I think sticking a polite note on these cars is an excellent idea! I called the police just the other day on some fool at Walmart who had done the same thing. I do like the example of leaving the owners in the car, cracking the windows a smidge, leaving them in the car for 20 minutes or so, WITH THE ADDITION OF MAKING THEM WEAR A FREAKIN FUR COAT!!! This should be the punishment for all officers to enforce when they find a poor puppy in the car!!! People are just too stupid!
Hope that dog was ok!
Poor pup, how annoying. When will people get the message? 🙁
What you need to do is make a sticker out of your image, one of those really hard to remove kind (I’ve seen them made to indicate someone is illegally parked) and place it right in the driving view! I know it’s not polite but the driver will have plenty of time to think about what they’ve done as they try to scrape it off…..of course it could have the undesired effect of them leaving the dog again to go get some Goo-Gone, so maybe place it on the side window 😉
Unfortunately, I think they’ll still not get the point. Stupid, thoughtless and careless rarely seem to improve and get smarter, at least in my life experience. The only thing I’ve done differently than you is to run back into the store and ask that they page the vehicle owner. Well, and a couple of times I’ve drawn a crowd in the parking lot and we all shamed them when they come out. “I was only gone 10 minutes.” There are dog lovers and then there are people who claim to be but are only people who have dogs…
Is is so frustrating, and I really have no idea why people continue to do it.. I mean we’ve even had numerous stories about police officers doing the same thing recently. I just don’t get it. How much more obvious can we make it?
This makes my blood boil!! But I really like that suggestion of putting a sticker on the car! I think I need to start making them for nx summer…
I am grateful that I have not seen any dogs locked in hot cars this summer.
It is just incomprehensible on a number of fronts-first why are you taking a dog shopping???? Second, why are you leaving your so-called treasured friend in the car with windows barely cracked? Even when windows are down, the temperatures inside cars are broiling. A recent NFL player posted a video of him in a car for less than 15 minutes showing what can happen in just a few minutes. Very powerful message that I hope others heed. Good job on the restraint, Jodi! I’d have thought long and hard on the baseball bat solution. 😉
We don’t want you to get arrested for breaking a window or damaging someone’s windshield. But I’m all for getting some Moo cards printed of Delilah laying down the law to drop in people’s cars.
And I think it’s an awesome idea to carry some tubing in your car to help you do car-to-car air conditioning.
It’s such a crazy thing. People love their dogs so much that they want to take them everywhere with them. I get it.
But they don’t love them enough to put themselves in their dog’s paw prints and realize how uncomfortable it is to sit in a hot car, even if it’s not long enough to cause brain damage?
As someone who leaves dogs in my van a lot (dog shows, etc), I am always thankful for people keeping an eye on my vehicle. While I do always leave the a/c running and check it often, I recently heard of a device that monitors the temperature inside your vehicle and sounds an alarm if your a/c fails and the temperature rises above a safe point. I will be ordering one!
I wish I had an answer for you, my friend! I’m glad though that around here, at least, more people are leaving their pets at home. Or at least that’s the impression I get…I haven’t seen a dog left alone in the car at our local Publix in a long time.
I had to do that once when it was in the 80s here. I went into the store and notified the manager who made an announcement but the people obviously weren’t paying much attention. I saw this old, old couple slowly shuffled their way across the parking lot to their vehicle. I kept an eye on the dog in the vehicle and he/she seemed none the worse for wear. Still…come on people.
I would like to say a law enacted where people that want to adopt a dog first must prove they a) know how to properly work a Flexi-lead if they plan on using one; b) will sit in a hot car for 15 minutes to understand just how uncomfortable and dangerous it can get; c) will prove they know how to use a poop bag by walking a loaner dog; d) will prove that once they have the poop bag full, they are able to walk around with it until a proper receptacle to dispose of it is located.
I can probably get even more specific because I have a lot of pet peeves with dog owners, but I think those are the top 4.
I’m glad the dog was probably okay. I have read some stories where police officers have the owners sit in the car for awhile so they realize just how quickly the car heats up.
VERY frustrating. No matter how viral these types of images can go (i.e. the video of a professional athlete sitting in a hot car), people never seem to catch on like they should. I love your comment about the “Umbridge pen” – if only such a thing existed!! I like the above comment about making the owner sit in their own car in the heat, and I also like the idea of leaving a note. However, in certain circumstances, I’ve truly considered breaking the window. That’s one of those things that I would smile proudly in my mugshot for if I got arrested…
Delilah does the best PSA’s! I had to share that on Facebook. I also had to look up what an Umbridge Pen is (sorry).
I can’t believe there are still so many ignorant and stupid people out there about this. You have to have your head way down in the sand to miss all the media, social and otherwise, about it. I heard another one on the news this week. I forget where it was, but luckily they got the dog out soon enough and charged the stupid woman.
Delilah is a natural model to get important messages across. What I totally can’t understand is that every summer there are stories about police dogs being left in cars to roast to death. I hope they are all fired and have to reimburse for the dog.
Hi Y’all!
What a beautiful face to “spread the word”!
Y’all come on by,
Hawk aka BrownDog
urgh, I would of been hot and went and smashed the windows, that dog could of been dead in the time it took the police to get there. I love your sign!