How to Save Dogs Left in Hot Cars

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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?

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, 31 states in the US make it illegal to leave a dog in a hot car. Can you believe it? Only 31 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, 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 programed 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 loud speaker.

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:
Car safety tips for dogs

Heatstrokes in Chihuahuas

Can Chihuahuas get sunburned?