Dogs left in the car

N747JB

N747JB

Final Approach
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I just got a call from a lady that spotted a car with my dealer tag on it with two dogs locked inside. It's my wife's car, the car is running with the air conditioning set at a comfortable 70 degrees. The nice lady noticed the car was running with the a/c on, but she called the police anyway, then she called me.
Am I crazy to think it's OK to leave a dog in an air conditioned car while you are inside at a doctor appointment??
I think she over-reacted, but maybe I am naïve? :dunno:
 
Over reacted. Too much media coverage!


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N747JB said:
I just got a call from a lady that spotted a car with my dealer tag on it with two dogs locked inside. It's my wife's car, the car is running with the air conditioning set at a comfortable 70 degrees. The nice lady noticed the car was running with the a/c on, but she called the police anyway, then she called me.
Am I crazy to think it's OK to leave a dog in an air conditioned car while you are inside at a doctor appointment??
I think she over-reacted, but maybe I am naïve? :dunno:
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I say no big deal. I guess the worst reasonable thing that could happen is that the car turns off. Might not be good on a 100 degree day, but it's barely 80 degrees today and not very sunny. Dogs would be fine. Some people think of dogs just like people though, using that logic, I wouldn't leave a baby in a car unsupervised so....

But these are dogs, they are fine in the car.
 
N747JB said:
I just got a call from a lady that spotted a car with my dealer tag on it with two dogs locked inside. It's my wife's car, the car is running with the air conditioning set at a comfortable 70 degrees. The nice lady noticed the car was running with the a/c on, but she called the police anyway, then she called me.
Am I crazy to think it's OK to leave a dog in an air conditioned car while you are inside at a doctor appointment??
I think she over-reacted, but maybe I am naïve? :dunno:
Click to expand...


Exactly,

also folks need to stop knee jerking to calling the government for anything which bothers them.
 
genna said:
Actually, it may not be legal to leave a car unattended and running. It isn't legal in my state.

http://www.hg.org/article.asp?id=31777
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Most things arnt leal, unless you just spend your life staring at the TV and never leave your home, you're probably breaking at least a couple laws every few days and you probably don't even know it.
 
We always worry about these reactionaries when traveling with our dogs. We'd never leave them stuck in the car on a hot day for half an hour or anything like that but sometimes you need to stop at a gas station and use the bathroom or run into the store for a 5 minute errand. A couple times it's been really hot and I left the truck running with the AC on for him. This dog is absolutely spoiled...

Unfortunately the world is full of busy bodies who will see something, make a bunch of assumptions without knowing the situation, call the cops, and make a huge problem out of nothing for everyone.
 
I never leave my dog in the car if I won't have the car and her in sight the entire time.

Too many things could go wrong.
 
cowman said:
We always worry about these reactionaries when traveling with our dogs. We'd never leave them stuck in the car on a hot day for half an hour or anything like that but sometimes you need to stop at a gas station and use the bathroom or run into the store for a 5 minute errand. A couple times it's been really hot and I left the truck running with the AC on for him. This dog is absolutely spoiled...

Unfortunately the world is full of busy bodies who will see something, make a bunch of assumptions without knowing the situation, call the cops, and make a huge problem out of nothing for everyone.
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To that I say: http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/2965355

"Dog Put Car In Drive, Hit, Injured York, Pennsylvania Man: Police".

I have no idea how one puts the car in reverse without depressing the brake pedal, but nevertheless.

I sometimes leave my dog in the car, but never in a running car.

Point I was trying to make -- even though I am guilty of the similar behavior and have no problems with it personally -- it is not a terribly good idea and often not legal. So you can't be too upset when someone calls you out. And as you know, someone will.

Do it at your own risk.
 
Don't do it. Temps can rise 40 degrees higher than outside temperatures if the windows are closed and the a/c gives out.

A beautiful K-9 dog died in Wisconsin after being in a car only 47 minutes when the blower motor broke, and an alarm didn't work to notify the officer.

"A 3-year-old Brown County Sheriff’s Office police dog died in a squad car Wednesday after the air-conditioning unit failed.

"The dog, a Belgian Malinois named Wix, was on assignment with his handler, Deputy Austin Lemberger, at the PGA Championship golf tournament near Sheboygan when he died.

"Lemberger had left the dog alone in the squad car with the engine and air conditioning running. He returned around 12:30 p.m. and found Wix unresponsive in the back of the car.

"The vehicle’s blower motor stopped working, and a heat alarm installed in the squad car did not activate, said Capt. Dan Sandberg of the Brown County Sheriff’s Office."

http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com...rown-county-police-dog-dies-hot-car/31649723/
 
Takes a special kind of stupid to leave a car running and unattended. If you have to go do something, leave the dogs at home. Seems pretty simple to me.
 
genna said:
To that I say: http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/2965355

"Dog Put Car In Drive, Hit, Injured York, Pennsylvania Man: Police".

I have no idea how one puts the car in reverse without depressing the brake pedal, but nevertheless.

I sometimes leave my dog in the car, but never in a running car.

Point I was trying to make -- even though I am guilty of the similar behavior and have no problems with it personally -- it is not a terribly good idea and often not legal. So you can't be too upset when someone calls you out. And as you know, someone will.

Do it at your own risk.
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Just as an FYI, a lot of older vehicles don't have the brake-shift interlock so you don't have to step on the brake to put them in gear. Not sure when they started doing it, I think in the 90s. I've had several older cars over the years that didn't have the lockout. Good chance that was the situation in that story though....

The best solution is if one is going to have to go inside for more than a couple minutes, just leave the dog home. However, sometimes you're on an 8 hour drive and the dog needs to come along... and at some point you're going to have to stop, get fuel, and use a bathroom.

If it's 100 degrees out you might just leave the AC on for the poor dog despite the one in a million chance he might put it in gear(hey, maybe he's in the back with a barrier so he can't get to it, maybe in a crate who knows?). If someone rolls up on a car at a gas pump, running with AC on... or not with the windows cracked and a dog inside and can't rub a couple brain cells together and figure out the situation yes I'm gonna call them out as a jerk. So what if there's a law? In that situation I'm going to have violate a rule/law somewhere aren't I? Take the dog in= against the rules. Pee in the grass by the gas pump? Illegal. Leave car running? Also illegal. No win scenario. Best option is to leave the dog in the car with the AC on... and I bet most cops after hearing the situation wouldn't even write that ticket and roll their eyes at the yahoo who just called and wasted their time.
 
cowman said:
Just as an FYI, a lot of older vehicles don't have the brake-shift interlock so you don't have to step on the brake to put them in gear. Not sure when they started doing it, I think in the 90s. I've had several older cars over the years that didn't have the lockout. Good chance that was the situation in that story though....
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That started in the late 80s I think. After Audi “sudden unintended acceleration”. I guess I didn't think of cars that old, but sure.
 
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Safety-wise, it's not a concern. Police K9 units do it all the time. The only real danger is the dog peeing in the car.
 
N747JB said:
Am I crazy to think it's OK to leave a dog in an air conditioned car while you are inside at a doctor appointment??
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I think you are crazy to think you can't leave your dog at home while you go to a dr appointment.

Sorry, but you asked.
 
Gerhardt said:
Safety-wise, it's not a concern. Police K9 units do it all the time. The only real danger is the dog peeing in the car.
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I believe they have an overtemp alarm hooked to the digital radio.
 
Van Johnston said:
I think you are crazy to think you can't leave your dog at home while you go to a dr appointment.

Sorry, but you asked.
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That was her plan, but she couldn't get them back in the house and she ended up taking them so she wouldn't be late. Obviously, the best course of action is to leave them at home, even though our direct tv is out and they couldn't watch TV. :D
 
My Westie travels with me pretty much 100% of the time. She is 15 years old and leaving her home is not an option. She has abut 140 hours in the plane...save a hold, she might event be instrument current.

She has a Snoozer Lookout II to peruse the countryside when she travels in the car. In the Matrix, she rides in the rock star section.

I have walked back up to the car a time or tow and blended in with a few do-gooders who were about to break ice cold glass with condensation on it...agree that there was some ******* who left their dog in the car...and add that the music he made that poor puppy listen was an atrocity...I mean who makes their dog listen to metal? Then I unlock the car door, laugh with them and introduce them to Haley and go about my way.

So, I get it.
 
I occasionally leave my dog in the cab of the pickup truck but it's not running and both windows are open.
 
In Texas here I will only leave the dog in the A/C in the car if it's a quick in and out and I mean quick. I don't trust machines and if the A/C quits down here it can be boiling inside in five minutes.

In Winter mild weather, I'll leave her with the windows down a little for longer but not in a running car.

Our Escalade is the number one stolen vehicle so I figure leaving it running is bad joo-joo. Our dog might lick you to death so she's no help. :lol:
 
N747JB said:
That was her plan, but she couldn't get them back in the house and she ended up taking them so she wouldn't be late.
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Not a good excuse. The dog's life is more important then the doctor appointment. You took on the responsibility of a dog so deal with it. A dog WILL make life inconvenient at times. That's just the way it is.
 
RalphInCA said:
Not a good excuse. The dog's life is more important then the doctor appointment. You took on the responsibility of a dog so deal with it. A dog WILL make life inconvenient at times. That's just the way it is.
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Sorry, but a dog's life is NEVER more important than a human's. Not even close.

However, in this particular case, I would probably have left the dog in the car with the windows all the way down. I've seen that done many times before. Pooches don't need air conditioning. I sure wouldn't have called the cops before I knew more about the situation and tried to locate the owner. Again, a dog's life is not a human life, no matter how much you might try to rationalize an equivalency.


JKG
 
My daughter worked on some of these cases while in veterinary school. I guess organs shut down, etc, and it's a cruel way to go. She asked us to never leave them in the car, even with windows opened.

Plus, dogs have been stolen from vehicles in the Milwaukee area over the past year. Our chocolate labs are so loving and food driven, they'd probably just go along for the price of a Milkbone.
 
Would I have called police like the lady did in this situation? No. I would notice the car was running and the dog was not panting or in any immediate danger. If the dog was there for an extended period of time (more than 15-20 min), I would be concerned. Probably not call police immediately, but I might start asking around.

I would not leave the dog in the car with the AC running for the length of time as your wife did. Most Dr. Appointments take an hour or sometimes, more.
 
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RalphInCA said:
Not a good excuse. The dog's life is more important then the doctor appointment. You took on the responsibility of a dog so deal with it. A dog WILL make life inconvenient at times. That's just the way it is.
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Huh? If someone takes reasonable precautions (leaves engine and AC running, checks ever so often), there is nothing wrong with leaving a dog in the car. The biggest risk to the dog is some zealot with a brick who feels compelled to smash a window.
At the end of the day, the dog is a thing and as long it is not abusive, the owner has a right to leave the dog in their home, their car or at a campsite.

I have encountered those dog zealots before. Car is parked at the gas station with windows up and engine running surrounded by breathless pet lovers. Engine was running, windows were cool to the touch and the doggie was licking the window wagging his tail.
 
Even with the A/C on, it is still somewhat cruel to the dog to leave him in the car. Leave him home. Arrange your life so you can keep the dog as comfortable as possible. You got the dog, deal with the consequences.

Why is this so hard to understand?
 
RalphInCA said:
Even with the A/C on, it is still somewhat cruel to the dog to leave him in the car. Leave him home. Arrange your life so you can keep the dog as comfortable as possible. You got the dog, deal with the consequences.

Why is this so hard to understand?
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Exactly.
 
RalphInCA said:
Even with the A/C on, it is still somewhat cruel to the dog to leave him in the car. Leave him home. Arrange your life so you can keep the dog as comfortable as possible. You got the dog, deal with the consequences.

Why is this so hard to understand?
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Dont have a dog right now, the last one would hang out under the couch for hours without much of a need to do anything. It is probably a good idea to give the pooch a chance to empty his bladder, but an hour in a car with the AC running while the owner is at a doctors appointment doesn't strike me as cruel treatment.
 
I'm an absolute dog lover I have never been without one. However I have never understood these people who go full retard over there pets. My dog does not get in my truck or come into the house ever. If we must take him somewhere we have a kennel with tiedowns he gets put in. Every year he gets a med/rare ribeye for his birthday and I heat or cool the garage for him on extreme temperature days. He doesn't seem to care that he doesn't come in the house or go on car rides. Oh and if we ever find out he needs some $10,000 dollar surgery or something we will have a new family dog that we will all love and it will never come in the house or go on car rides.
 
alfadog said:
Yes, and you shouldn't be flying those dang airplanes for fun either. Those things are dangerous and kill people! Best if you just stay home with your dog with the door locked.
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And dont you ever endanger that dog by putting him into that dangerous little plane, or god forbid even allow him to sit on a seat without an approved $500 dog restraint system.
 
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