As the weather starts to heat up, we must be more cautious when it comes to our beloved pets’ health and safety. We must remember to check and replenish their water bowl more often. It is also important that we don’t walk our dogs on asphalt or sidewalk during the hottest parts of the day to ensure they don’t burn their feet. Likewise, it’s vital that we don’t leave any of our pets in a hot car, even just for a few minutes.
Although the latter may seem like common sense, thousands of people still put their pets in danger during the hotter months due to negligence. Sometimes, injuries or even fatalities are the results, even though they certainly could have been avoided with the right care.
Unfortunately for Tina of Golden, Colorado who was walking her dog one day, she had to witness an endangered canine in a hot vehicle with the windows nearly rolled all the way up. With the weather being over 90 degrees Fahrenheit outside, and thus easily 124 degrees Fahrenheit inside the vehicle, along with the sounds of the deafening cries coming from the trapped pup, Tina knew right away that the dog’s health was at risk.
“…my first thought was, ‘Not again,'” Tina tells Fox 31 Denver.
As the woman approached the vehicle, she noticed that the dog was panting and pacing back and forth, antsy to make his grand escape towards safety. However, the doors to the car were locked, so Tina did the next best thing: call 911.
Not long later, Deputy Kelly Folser arrived, forced open one of the doors, and led the poor pup to a shaded tree where Tina gave him a drink of water. Seeing how desperate the canine was for the drink of water brought Tina to tears. Worst of all, there’s no saying how long the dog had been in the car or how close he could have been to death. However, from what witnesses know, the dog had been in the vehicle for at least 20 minutes.
Fosler then informed Tina that she could go home and that she could take care of everything else. Fosler waited with the dog until the owner arrived, so she could explain the dangers of leaving pets in a hot car. However, rather than being thankful someone helped keep his dog safe while he was away, the owner was appalled.
“I don’t care!” the owner replies to Fossler.
“I know you don’t care–”
“You guys have nothing else to do other than harass people like me and my dog!” he quickly shouts back before taking off with the dog.
“[Dogs] can’t sweat it out; they don’t have anything to cool them down…I was shocked and angered at the same time and also sad.” Fosler says later in an interview.
Fortunately, however, Fosler took down the man’s license plate and reported him to Animal Control who gave him a stern warning that if this were to ever happen again, he would be charged with animal cruelty.
Tina and Deputy Fosler both did the right thing! Next time you witness a pet in a hot car, it’s important to take the appropriate action. According to PETA, 58 animals died in hot vehicles in 2018, but those are just the ones we know of. By reporting an animal trapped in a hot car, you can help save an innocent animal’s life.
Learn more about the story by watching the video below. Share this video on social media as a friendly reminder not to leave pets in cars during the heat!
