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Some people just aren't intelligent...and that's unfortunate. You can't leave a dog w/o windows open or something is not wise.
I live in a small town...so if my dog is in the car I leave the car running while I go inside, AC on...no biggie. But if I'm going to be too long, or it's possible I might be too long, then I leave him at home. Sometimes if my husband and I both go one of us will stay in the car with the AC on while the other goes in.
My issue is that everyone on here is so concerned about leaving dogs in cars when it's too hot...and that is a big problem that happens...but what about people who don't have AC in there home/apartment? MAYBE...some of those people take their dogs with them so they can ride in a cooled car for a bit instead of staying in the hot apartment or home. So I can see where the intentions may be good, but the outcome not so much. Ya know?
Good lord. If it's hot, you don't leave the dog in a closed car. If it's 60 degrees out and the dog has ridiculous separation anxiety when left at home and you're running into the library for 10 minutes, that is NOT a problem.
I'm tempted to put up a thermometer in my car window so busybodies can see exactly what temperature my dog is suffering at. With her water bowl on the car floor, her stuffed animals, blankies, etc. Or just post the stupid law in the car window about the no-dog-left-in-car law applying only to situations with inadequate ventilation.
Dogs can't let themselves out of houses, crates, vet clinic cages, etc either. That doesn't mean that anyone who puts a dog in one of those situations is bad, irresponsible, etc.
It's a sad, sad world we've come to when you can't take your dog on errands with you because it's illegal to tie them outside a store or leave them in a car and you're not allowed to bring them INTO the store and you're not allowed to leave them at home if they bark. It may as well be illegal to have dogs at all.
On another board a lady said she called police about a dog in the car,windows open halfway and about 75 degrees out.
Everyone praised her for it.
Isn't it getting to be overkill on this issue?
My husband is not well and often opts for waiting in the car while I go in the store....even this summer when it has been 80 and over with no shade.
Nobody yet has reported me for endangering him.
I am in no way defending people who leave pets or children in cars since the temperatures can climb surprisingly quickly to dangerous levels but shouldn't there be some common sense applied?
This Morning I had a woman call animal control on me I was in the store fore less than 10 min. It really upset me about how rude she was she started yelling you should never leave a dog in the car, ever, it doesnt matter what temp it is. It was only 65 degrees, I just wish the lady could have been civil, maybe wait 5 min to see if someone showed or go talk to the store to do a page, I think that sometimes people do over react, and they should get the facts before they freak, It would be one thing if the dog was showing signs of serious distress, but my little beagle was just wagging his tail.
Animal control has a lot more important issues to take care of than showing up at a store when the person isn't even there anymore, I have been looking at laws here in Idaho and there are no laws they could enforce anyway as long as water was in the car and it wasn't too hot, so people should think before they waste important time
If a person chooses to sit in a hot car and wait for someone on an errand....so be it. Dogs get excited just at the notion of going for a ride, we all know that...but they can't then suddenly decide..."take me home" and have it happen. Or switch on the air....or get out and find some shade. They trust us with their lives.
Why take a chance on causing suffering or brain damage or death to an innocent animal who has no choice in the matter? I'm not saying anyone who does that is stupid. Or uncaring. Maybe they have to feel the consequences of their actions to UNDERSTAND why there are people who object.
The real issue is dogs left unattended in vehicles with windows an inch down in the broiling sun. It happens every spring and summer here..without fail. If you think it's no biggie...try it on yourself sometime....I'm bettin' you won't last five minutes!
If a person chooses to sit in a hot car and wait for someone on an errand....so be it. Dogs get excited just at the notion of going for a ride, we all know that...but they can't then suddenly decide..."take me home" and have it happen. Or switch on the air....or get out and find some shade. They trust us with their lives.
Why take a chance on causing suffering or brain damage or death to an innocent animal who has no choice in the matter? I'm not saying anyone who does that is stupid. Or uncaring. Maybe they have to feel the consequences of their actions to UNDERSTAND why there are people who object.
The real issue is dogs left unattended in vehicles with windows an inch down in the broiling sun. It happens every spring and summer here..without fail. If you think it's no biggie...try it on yourself sometime....I'm bettin' you won't last five minutes!
I too have reported someone for leaving a dog in a car but the temperature outside was well over 80 degrees and there were NO windows open. I stayed outside the car where he was until the cops got there and the woman who left him came out. Made me angry. Was the woman mad at me..no..embarrassed if anything else.
Your husband waiting in the car for you is not the same issue at all. Unless he is totally paralyzed, he can open a window, turn the car on and have the air conditioning or heater work whatever the case may be and pretty much take care of himself. Animals can't.
NO ONE should leave a pet in a car any longer than 5 min. to run into a store, pay a bill stuff like that. Pets have also been stolen out of cars when people leave them, especially valuable ones. I have a pure bred pit who would go with anyone and do not leave her in the car longer than 5 min.and if it is really hot outside, she does not go in the car at all.
No I don't think people are over reacting about leaving pets in cars, it just needs to be something people do using more common sense just like you would with your husband...do you have him out with you in the car when it is over 90 degrees?? Probably not.
Here in Northern Florida, they sometimes leave the windows all the way down with their pets inside. Don't they care if someone steals them? Hello? They also leave multiple ones in open back trucks in the hot sun forever, parked somewhere. People down here have no brains I swear. I could make multiple calls everyday here trust me.
I have also walked past some of those wide open window cars with big dogs panting out them. Some are friendly but some will take your head off. Are'nt these people worried that a child will pet their aggressive dog and lose an arm or a hand or a face? Talk about irresponsible pet ownership! Most are redneck, uneducated hillbillies I think. Sorry to classify but have been here four years and this is what I have come to know!
Different people clearly have different concerns. An 80°F+ day where I live is a very rare thing indeed. When I'm with my dogs and need to stop, I actually roll up my windows so that they are only open an inch or two at most when I pull into the parking lot. The last thing I need is some stupid kid sticking their hand through the window of my vehicle to pet my dog. They are liable to pull back a bloody stump.
Winters are more of a problem than summers here, when it concerns leaving dogs in vehicles. A vehicle that isn't running will cool off quickly in -30°F.
My general rule of thumb is, regardless of the temperature, if I know that I will be out of the car for longer than 30 minutes, I will not bring my dogs.
I sometimes take one of my dogs or both of my dogs if I'm running to the grocery store for an item or two, the post office for a stamp, etc [quick runs] and I leave the windows cracked to where they wouldn't be a flight risk.
If it's going to be more than 5 minutes, I won't take them.
I will however call the cops if no windows are cracked and the heat is really bad.
I once saw a puppy in a car of an elderly couple [I assume they were elderly because of the disabled bumper sticker.....] and they had no windows cracked whatsoever. It was so cute and it was barking and everything.
Umm first off, your hubby can get out of the car, if he chooses too.
Animals can't.
If your taking your pets out on a warm day, atleast find shade to park the car/truck and have windows somewhat down, and perhaps even some water in a bowl on the floor of the car, this I have done, however not for a long period of time.
I have seem animals parked in the blistering sun window only cracked, pets trying to find shade in the car *none to find* panting away trying to cool down the body to no avail, the pet looks like to pass out, the owner shows up hour or so later, takes out the dog dog not moving totally dehydrated, such a shame, would you do this to your baby? well ok some ppl would but remember to think how you would feel etc..poor pets! come and get a drinky drink
ATTENTION BUSY BODIES!!!! My dog loves to ride with us in our van. If it is too hot, IN OUR JUDGEMENT, the dog stays home. If it is too cold, IN OUR JUDGEMENT, the dog stays home.
WE love our dog MORE than you do. She means more to me than anything. I do not need your help determining when it is too hot or cold for her to be in my van with the shade up or down with the windows cracked or rolled up.
IT IS NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS.
In what way can it be said that I am living in a free country when I am eating dinner at a restaurant with my wife while the temperature is MAX 80 degrees and the time is 8:30 at NIGHT!, yet my dinner is interrupted by a table talking loudly about how they are going to call the cops because my dog is in my van.
The sun was LOW in the sky, the windows were geneously cracked the evening was COOLING, My dog was HAPPY and DOING FINE, as I could see from the window at my table, but in the opinion of a finger-wagging soccer mom my actions were those of a criminal that required the intervention of the autorities.
I rose to meet the woman's challenge and proclaimed before the dining room that the dog was mine, that the temperature was mild, and that the issue was absolutely NOBODY's BUSINESS BUT MINE.
She argued with me for quite a while claiming that the temperature was 90 degrees and that she had lost a dog by leaving it in the car.
But that was then and this was now. Her judgement in her situation had worked out to be wrong and her dog had paid the price. Dogs tend to die on HOT days in cars when the windows are up with no sunshade because of a greenhouse effect that makes the temperature rise to well over 100. No temperature even near 90 degrees was remotely possible in our van that night. IN MY JUDGEMENT. The woman disagreed,
Finally I left. My 11-pound little sweet dog was very happy and doing just fine. We took her to the park and she ran around like crazy, when she got home she didn't even take a drink. Such was the punishing, dog-killing heat.
I am very, very smart. I blow the top off of IQ tests. I don't expect that to make you like me, but please don't walk around assuming I need your help figuring out how to take care of my dog.
Mind your own business, America. Freedom is allowing adults to make decisions according to their own judgement and then live with the consequences.
My dog is mine and my dog is safe. Keep your busy body out of it!
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Most are redneck, uneducated hillbillies I think. Sorry to classify but have been here four years and this is what I have come to know! 
Keep your laws off my doggie...
