We all know that it’s wrong to leave a child in a hot car. And if you didn’t know that, you do now. A child could die in a very short amount of time if left in a hot car. Sadly, far too many already have. But the same applies to any animal left in a hot car; that animal too could die because of the extreme heat. And now you know THAT.
Tina was walking her dog recently through a neighborhood in Golden, Colorado, when she heard something really strange. It sounded like a dog whining and whimpering, but it was very muffled. And the more she walked, the more she could hear the whining, and now there were some barks. Her dog could even hear it, and perked up at the noise.
When Tina rounded the corner, she spotted the animal making all those noises. It was a dog sitting inside a car with its windows rolled almost all the way up. The small amount of air getting into the car was doing very little to keep the dog suffering from the heat. The outside temperature was in the 90s, so Tina Knew it had to be much hotter in that car.
She tried opening a door to give the trapped animal some fresh air, but all the doors were locked. Then, Tina did what everyone probably Should do… she called the police. And she waited for them. During that wait, she recorded the dog in its situation, being able to breathe only a little through that cracked window.
When Officer Kelly Fosler arrived a few minutes later, she was able to force open the door. The dog quickly leaped out and headed for some shade under a tree. The officer stayed with it and Tina gave it some much-needed water. And the dog kept drinking and drinking, as Tina started tearing up. It was very upsetting for her, not knowing how much longer the dog would have suffered if she had not heard its whimpering and called police.
How long had the dog’s owner been gone, and when was the owner coming back? Tina and the police officer waited. When the owner finally returned and the officer told him that the dog’s life was at risk by being kept in that car on such a hot day, the owner’s response was quite a shock. He said he didn’t care. Then he shouted, “You guys have nothing else to do other than harass people like me and my dog?” And then he took his dog, put him back in the car and left. But that wasn’t the end of things.
Officer Fosler wrote down his license plate and turned it over to animal control. And animal control sent him a warning that if he ever did it again, he would be prosecuted for animal cruelty. Hopefully, that man will heed the warning and never do it again. But what if it WAS a young child in that car, who was crying and gasping for air? What then? A warning? It’s getting awful hot outside now. Please make sure you don’t leave your children OR your pets in a hot car.
