Please don't cook your dog.

June 13, 2009 1:40 PM

What's the recommended action to take and agencies to contact when faced with an animal stuck in a locked car in 100 deg heat?

I've just had a confrontation in my supermarket car park with an irresponsible dog owner who had locked his dog in his car whilst he went shopping for groceries.
Luckily he turned up while I was talking to the security guard about the best action to take. His immediate concern was if he was going to get a ticket, not the health of his pet or the questionable decision of leaving a dog in a car in Texas in the summer. Unfortunately he drove off before I thought to get his licence plate and report him. Needless to say I'm disturbed that there are owners like that out there.

What does MeFi recommend as the best course of action to take should I witness this again? I've previously called the fire department for a neighbour's child in a locked car when he hit the locks while the mother was outside (under cover and in the Spring) and they were marvelous, but what's the protocol for animals?

posted by arcticseal to Pets & Animals (25 answers total)

Best answer: I have called the police, and I would do it again. I gave them the license number when I called.

I also wanted to mention that you should feel good about what you did. Sounds like he was a defensive asshole to you and the security guard, but maybe later, when he calms down, he might look up how quickly it can become dangerous (maybe on the "wasn't she crazy? it was just a couple of minutes" theory, but he'd find how bad a thing to do it was), and he'll think twice next time.
posted by palliser at 1:45 PM on June 13, 2009

Best answer: You're in Houston, right? Try phoning the Houston SPCA.
posted by katillathehun at 1:46 PM on June 13, 2009 [1 favorite]

I would call 911 if I found a dog locked in the car in the summer heat.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 1:46 PM on June 13, 2009

Response by poster: Thanks katillathehun, that's what I was thinking of. I'll keep that number in my cell phone for the future.
If he hadn't have shown up when he did, I was about to call the police to break the window.
posted by arcticseal at 1:54 PM on June 13, 2009

I think having a car window busted open by the police is a nice reminder not to do this shit.
posted by palliser at 1:59 PM on June 13, 2009 [5 favorites]

In the situation you described, you should call the police before you call the SPCA. The police are the ones who can be dispatched immediately to the location and save the life of the dog if necessary. Unless your SPCA has a rapid-response unit, they're not going to be able to do anything to save a dog that is locked in a car in a death-could-be-imminent situation -- they can, however, take your complaint and go have a talk with the owner later.
posted by amyms at 2:06 PM on June 13, 2009

Response by poster: Thanks everyone, I think I was looking for confirmation that calling the police was the correct way to go.
posted by arcticseal at 2:28 PM on June 13, 2009

In my area, the fire department will extricate anything/anyone needing extrication. The fire trucks also have "pet bags" on them which include special oxygen masks and heat rehabiliation equipment for dogs and cats. But there is wide variation in equipment and protocol from district to district and your FD may not do this.

However, my general approach to emergency situations is bad guys=police, blood/unconscious people=ambulance, everything else=fire. The SPCA absolutely need to be told because they will launch an investigation, and if nothing else, let the owner know how quickly an animal can die in that situation, but they probably don't have the equipment to tend to the immediate life-or-death needs.

Give yourself a big pat on the back for taking action. Many people would have "not wanted to get involved". You made your part of the world a bit better today.
posted by angiep at 2:37 PM on June 13, 2009

good job. That guy is an idiot.
I live in Houston and it is freaking hot this week. Unseasonable HOT.

It is your call on if calling 911 is the right decision at the time. Here is the HPD non-emergency number. 713-884-3131.

Again, I am not saying calling 911 is wrong but that is a decision you have to make.
posted by nimsey lou at 2:41 PM on June 13, 2009

If you call 911, they'll ask if you what kind of an emergency it is, so they know if they should send cops or firetrucks or ambulances or all of the above. Tell the dispatcher that it's a dog in a locked car, and they'll send out the appropriate service. At least, that's how it works here (SF Bay Area). Good for you for acting as you did; you did the right thing.
posted by rtha at 3:02 PM on June 13, 2009

My Dog is Cool
is a great website that has flyers that you can download, print or order, and leave.
posted by peagood at 3:47 PM on June 13, 2009 [2 favorites]

Yeah, I agree with Nimsey -- it's a judgment call if you should phone 911 or the non-emergency number. The non-emergency operator may very well forward you to 911 according to the information you give and how bad the dog appears to be doing.
posted by incessant at 3:54 PM on June 13, 2009

I called 911 when faced with a similar situation (not in Houston). It was taken seriously by the operator and the police who showed up.
posted by hecho de la basura at 4:02 PM on June 13, 2009

When someone does this in our parking lot (we're in Houston) we call the urban park rangers or the cops. And curse the perpetrators under our breath.
posted by Neofelis at 4:22 PM on June 13, 2009

That's good to know, hecho -- perhaps discount my suggestion of calling non-emergency number.
posted by incessant at 4:23 PM on June 13, 2009

Check the local laws about this kind of stuff too. I believe that it's a felony here to leave an animal locked in a car, and the police will break windows to get the critter out.
posted by azpenguin at 7:46 PM on June 13, 2009

Absolutely call 911. I used to work in an emergency animal hospital, and I can tell you that the local cops and firefighters LOVED busting the windows of a car to save a dog's life. Many cops (and even more firefighters) are dog owners and dog lovers, and sometimes it seemed like they took crimes against animals MORE seriously than crimes against people.
posted by Rock Steady at 8:27 PM on June 13, 2009 [2 favorites]

Sidebar: what if the windows are rolled down?
posted by Aquaman at 8:32 PM on June 13, 2009

@aquaman doesn't matter. it's still an oven in there. if the dog is up where he can get fresh air, he's in the direct heat; if he's down somewhere that there is any shade, he's breathing super heated air. It's a no-win for the doggie.
posted by Medieval Maven at 8:48 PM on June 13, 2009

Don't underestimate the embarrassment factor. In addition to notifying the police have the supermarket make an announcement over the PA. Something like 'will the driver of a red mercedes 112-345 who is roasting his dog in the back seat please report to security immediately'
posted by Gungho at 3:08 AM on June 14, 2009 [5 favorites]

Agreeing with Gungho. I'd talk to a manager at the store, to have it announced over the PA. If the manager initially says no, remind him/her that they make announcements about headlights being left on, and surely a dog is more important than a car battery. Then, SPCA.
posted by Houstonian at 4:59 AM on June 14, 2009 [2 favorites]

For your fastest response break the window yourself, but then you are in a whole heap of trouble. Call 911 and they will rush an officer to the scene, hopefully rush, who will do it and get away with it. When it is really an emergency, like an animal in the Texas heat, they will be quick. Before you do that you must ask yourself how long the dog has been there and is it really in trouble. If someone left them there for five minutes, even in the Texas sun, that is not a big deal, but twenty minutes is different. Dry cleaners, or supermarket, etc.? Since this was clearly supermarket your actions were appropriate. I understand about the SPCA, but they are not equipped to rush out and liberate the animal. The cops are.
posted by caddis at 6:08 AM on June 14, 2009

Best answer: Here is a graph that shows the rise in temperature in an enclosed car over time. You can see that even after 5 minutes, the interior temperature has risen by 10 degrees over the outside air (on a 100-degree day that could be very uncomfortable for the animal, maybe dangerous for some older animals), and after ten minutes it's 20 degrees over the outside air. I wouldn't wait; I'd just call the police.
posted by palliser at 7:12 AM on June 14, 2009 [2 favorites]

So the temperature would rise in five minutes from 70 degrees F, assuming a/c, to 80, and the poor pooch would experience this rise from 70 to 80 for five minutes. That is not dangerous. There exist very real dangers of heat in parked cars, but not every situation is dire. A supermarket parking lot though, you can't even pay in five minutes much less shop and pay. All I am saying is use judgment rather than rushing to judgment. Just to be clear, judgment might mean calling right away if the dog does not look happy or this is not the type of place where people shop for very short periods of time especially since you don't know how long they were already there.
posted by caddis at 8:03 AM on June 14, 2009

Response by poster: Thanks for the graph palliser, this is just the kind of thing I like to refer to. We were in the process of getting a PA announcement put out when the owner showed up.

@caddis, the outside temperature was 97+ deg F yesterday, that puts it firmly in the irresponsible zone in my opinion. It was quite clear in his behaviour that he didn't give a rat's a** about the dog's wellbeing and more about any possible ticket from the cops.

I now have the HPD and SPCA # in my cell phone, so will be prepared if I encounter this again. Thanks to everyone for their advice.
posted by arcticseal at 1:29 PM on June 14, 2009