It is getting hot and humid here in Virginia Beach right now. And this time of year, we often hear about dogs (and sometimes children) left in hot cars. I wonder, what are those pet parents thinking? Do they not care what happens to their fur kids? Or are they just ignorant and think they will be fine? I know in some cases, they forget they are in the car.
If you want to get an idea of how hot it feels, check out the video below with a vet who sat in a hot car for 30 minutes:
According to this video below, the Good Samaritan Law will protect you if a child is in distress in a hot car, but unless a state has a law for pets, the Good Samaritan Law doesn’t cover animals. It should, but it doesn’t.
I know many of us would love to do this:
But what are the consequences? There have been cases where someone broke into a car to save a dog and ended up getting arrested for doing so.
First of all, at the time of this writing, 32 states in the US make it illegal to leave a dog in a hot car. Can you believe it? Only 32 states. And even in those states, it doesn’t necessarily mean you are free to break into the car to save the dog.
Those states are Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin.
You can see what those laws are for each of those states here.
So how hot does it get inside a car? Check out this infographic from PetPlan:
You can make paper copies of this by clicking the PDF here and then printing them from your computer.
So what can you do if you see a dog in a car on a hot day?
First, it’s a good idea to have the phone number of your police department’s non-emergency phone number programmed in your phone or keep it in your wallet. Also, keep Animal Control’s phone number with you too.
You may also want to have some info sheets (PDFs provided above and below) to give out that you keep in your glove compartment.
If it’s really hot or the dog looks to be in distress, go ahead and call these numbers and give them the details.
To tell if a dog is in trouble, check this out:
You can get the PDF here: signs of heat stroke.
If the dog doesn’t look to be in any distress yet, get the details about the car (make, model, license number, color) and go into the nearest building and ask the manager to call them to their car over the loudspeaker.
Go back to the car and wait for the owner to come out. If they don’t within a few minutes, go ahead and call those numbers and report it.
While waiting, you may want to take some photos or video for evidence if needed. In the video, mention the time you found the dog, the temperature if you know it (check the weather on your phone), and any other details you can think of.
When the owner comes out, don’t get into a confrontation with them, but do let them know that you were worried about their dog in the heat and have called the police (if you already have called them). To help them realize what the danger is, you can give them a paper copy of the PDF: How Hot it Gets in a Car if you made some ahead of time.
So what do you do if the dog is obviously in distress, and it doesn’t seem like the owner or the cops are in any rush to get there? I can’t tell you to break into the car to get the dog out, but I believe that’s what I would do to save the dog. Yes, I may get in legal trouble, but I don’t think I could live with myself if I watched a dog die while I did nothing. First, though, before breaking in, I’d check to see if the doors were even locked.
If you don’t want to go to that extreme, you could call 911 now (instead of the nonemergency number) and tell them the dog is dying. They may get a cop out there faster or tell you to go ahead and get the dog out.
So what would you do if you came across a dog in a car on a hot day? Or has it already happened? What did you do?
ALSO READ:
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I’m so disappointed that Oregon isn’t on this list. I was talking about this law with a friend this week and how forward looking so many states are now, who would DO this? How can folks not think their dogs will be in the hospital if left in their car… I have come close to breaking into someone’s window but luckily I found them in a nail salon.
I’m surprised Oregon isn’t on the list either Christine. But they may be soon. When I first started researching this article, there were just 16 and now it’s 22.
I really do not understand these people! It’s stated everywhere that it’s extremely dangerous (it’s ALL over social media), so I think these people are just ignorant!! I recently saw a dog in a car, with the window 1 inch open, like that will prevent your dog from getting a heat stroke? I didn’t know what to do since I’m scared to break someone’s window! Thank you for these amazing tips, I’ll def print the pdf and keep it on me!!
Glad it helped Valerie! Yeah I don’t understand how people don’t know how dangerous it is either.
We rarely see dogs in cars this time of year. Our city actually has a law against leaving a dog in the car. It is so dangerous. It’s another reason we are not fans of summer as we can’t go along much when Mom runs errands which is a bummer.
I wish more cities had that law Emma! And don’t worry; Fall will be here before you know with cooler weather and you can start helping mom go on her errands.
I’m surprised that CT isn’t on this list, we have an animal advocacy group that lobbies for strict animal laws. They were instrumental in pushing for not allowing dogs to be tethered outside 24 hours per day. Also for providing water, food and shelter for outside dogs.
I typically don’t even try to find the owners, I bypass that step completely and call the authorities. Unfortunately, they are usually so slow in getting there that the person has come out and left by the time they arrive. I avoid the confrontations at all costs because the one time I did try and have a conversation with the person, she assured my her dog was fine. I can’t deal with that kind of ignorance and I’d have to control myself to keep from punching them. 🙂
Maybe they will be on the list soon Jodi. I’m kind of surprised they weren’t on there either.
[…] If you’ve struggled at all with your dog, you’ll get some great tips here. How to Save Dogs Left in Hot Cars by Kilosmom at I Love My Chi. Honestly, I can’t believe that people actually STILL have to […]
Unfortunately you can’t fix stupid! Legal or not, I’m busting Windows!!! I think these people need to put on a fur coat and sit in the car with the windows cracked. Maybe THEN they’ll understand!
I agree Sheena. It’s amazing how many people are clueless about this.
@Sheena Edwards, 100% agree with you!!!
Thank you for this post!
You’re welcome Kim!
If I ever came across a dog in a lock hot car, I would rather suffer the concequences if help is not showing up and the dog is in detress, I would break the window to save the dog life.people can be so inconsiderate when it comes to their little furry friends. Even though they think that he or she will be fine for a few minutes.
This happened to me years ago. A police substation was just around the corner,fortunately. I ran over there, the policeman was trying to decide what to do when the owner showed up. He was nice but let the owner know how danger this was and had her get the dog out.
I live in Canada and the laws are much the same here. I once came upon a dog stuck in a car with the windows up on a hot day. It was at Walmart so I found an employee and had them page the owner of the car and I waited for them to come. Eventually the person showed up and the dog was safe but I did have to wait a good half an hour and was worried that the person wouldn’t show. I was prepared at any given moment to call the police and if need be I would definitely have smashed the window of the car regardless of the consequences I will not stand idly by and watch a dog suffocate in a car. I have a sticker on my car from the SPCA which clearly states that I support not leaving animals in a hot car.
I just don’t understand people who leave their dogs in hot cars like that. They shouldn’t be allowed to have dogs.
I wouldn’t wait. The dog is suffering. I would check the doors, if locked, I would then call P.D. and Animal Control. After a reasonable amount of time, (very short), I would break the window. I would let P.D. know when they arrived and give them the information. Most people don’t want to get involved, but to save a life, the consequences are worth it. We don’t have anything in Idaho, according to the attached information, here but I’m contacting the P.T.B.,(the powers that be) in my state, to request a law on the books to protect good Samaritans that will get involved. People would be more aware and interested if there were some protection from an I-D-I-O-T that says you broke into their vehicle and they don’t care if their dog was in there.
That’s a wonderful thing for you to do by trying to get your politicians to make a new law.
I might be wrong, but I believe Texas is on that list since my neighbor was arrested for leaving her dog in her car when she went inside a diner to eat.
Good for Texas. I have to say I’m kind of surprised though.
If breaking into a car is the last resort to save a dog or any other living creature, I would definitely do it.
I would also document everything with photos and video, and call the police prior to breaking in.
Definitely documenting everything is a great idea.
Excellent article Cathy! It burns me up to see furbabies in a hot car! I keep the police and animal shelter numbers in my phone just in case. I have confronted a couple of folks when I have seen them coming back to their car. I said, “May I walk your dogs for a few minutes and you can sit in the car in the sun, don’t turn on the A/C or roll down the windows for you to see what it’s like for your pet for just a few minutes”. Because they said, we were just gone for a few minutes. I wish I had a fur coat for them to put on as well.
Good for you Twinkie’s mom. I left a note on someone’s car one time. It was only in the 50’s but the dog was so frantic, I guess because their owner had left them in there by themself and I was afraid it was going to have a stroke. That was before I did the research and learned what to do. Now I would go in the store and ask them to call over the intercom to the person to come out to the car. I don’t know why I didn’t think of that then.
https://www.animallaw.info/topic/table-state-laws-protect-animals-left-parked-vehicles
Cathy, Went on Internet and found some information from 2023 regarding the aforementioned discussion.
I already had that link in the article but I’m glad you left your comment because when I went to check the post to see if it was the same link, I saw that all the changes I made yesterday had reverted back to the old article and I never even knew. So I just made the changes again and hopefully they will stay this time.
Saved a beautiful puppy once that was left in a car on a super hot day with one window left open 1/4in. He was on his leash that was a thin old leather long thing. Well, puppy somehow wound the leash around the headrest to the point that I knew one more time and he’d hang himself and as I tried pulling on the window towards me, he hung himself so I forced my arm into the car to unlock the door(It was an older lock system that was on the door armrest.)
Poor pup was out of it so I poured room temp water on him in the shade and took him into a store once I covered him with a towel. I already called the police and when they came I went out to them and told them what happened.
Owners came out and I’ll tellYa, I was ripping mad at them. They were in the air conditioned restaurant for 1hr while their pup was outside in the car. When we first saw the pup to the time we had him out of the car was 15mins.
The police had a stern talk to them and the vets who work on these cases when called took the pup to make sure he was alright.
The next day my arm was purple, swollen and sore but knowing I saved a pup, I’d do it again in a heartbeat.
I’m thinking of buying one of those little devices that Firemen and Policemen use for breaking the windows. And I’m going to make a kit in my car or I’ll carry extra water, some towels, and some other things that could help me get into the car without breaking the window. It all depends on the situation of the animal or child in the.
Wow Pam! I’m so glad you were there to help the little guy! People can be so ignorant. I like your idea of making a kit.