What Is Your City's Law Regarding Dogs/Animals Locked in Hot Cars?

[Lisa and Pic]

Great link and thanks for posting. We have nothing for our state - wish we did.

[joeyyy2010]

Florida has nothing, but you better believe they will have a broken window and missing pup..

[Maximo]

Looks like Virginia doesn't have any statewide laws, but I know locally we do. A man was charged on Father's Day for leaving his dog in the car at Walmart. The fine was much more than $25, but still not enough.

We can call 911 to report pets left in cars.

[SWHouston]

This thread has prompted me to put the Phone Number of Animal Control and the Humane Society in my Cell Phone.

[Wylie's Mom]

Due to all the threads we've had this week on dogs in hot cars....I'm bumping this thread. PLEASE make sure you know your city's policy if/when you see a dog in a hot car.

[Quadraphinic]

I am going to look into this for my area in Georgia, I live just over the FL border on the coast. May through Sept/Oct., it gets so hot and humid here, that I only go out in the early morning or evening. It's sad that only 14 states have laws for this, all 50 should, with stricter punishment for breaking it. I will call the police no matter what, and if the animal is in distress, I will give the owner a free of charge broken window.
Cheers Quad

[Kareberry]

Hmm, I had to look this up since I didn't even know. Apparently we have an Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals which covers a whole range of things, including animals in a car. OSPCA investigators have the same authority as a police officer when enforcing this law!

Who to Call:
Report suspected animal abuse
To report suspected animal abuse call the Ontario SPCA at 1-888-ONT-SPCA (668-7722) ext. 327 or email cruelty@ospca.on.ca, or contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477), your local Ontario SPCA Branch, affiliated Humane Society or police.

You can bet on it that they'll smash anything in their way of getting to an animal in distress =)
Immediate distress – entry without warrant
(6) If an inspector or an agent of the Society has reasonable grounds to believe that there is an animal that is in immediate distress in any building or place, other than a dwelling, he or she may enter the building or place without a warrant, either alone or accompanied by one or more veterinarians or other persons as he or she considers advisable, and inspect the building or place and all the animals found there for the purpose of ascertaining whether there is any animal in immediate distress. 2008, c. 16, s. 9.

[YazminD]

Thank you for the reminder Ann. This situation has been weighing on my mind a lot these past 2 weeks.
I work in a small town restaurant and I see dogs locked up in cars in our parking lot all year round!
Two weekends ago, I believe it was approximately 87 degrees out when my coworkers alerted me that there was small locked in a car again! Sure enough, I went out to the car to find a beautiful white Shih Tzu sitting on a hot leather seat, her nose and upper lip dripping with sweat and all the windows rolled up!
I ran back to speak to the owners who were an elderly couple traveling from Florida. I told them that their dog was sweating and that I could give her some water and if they would at least crack windows, I could keep an eye on her while they ate. They were highly offended and told me NO bc they loved her too much and she might be stolen!
After a few more moments, I convinced the gentleman to at least sit in the car with her and give her some water until his food was ready. He said her name was Anna, that she was 7 yrs. old, they had just rescued her from a shelter in Fl., and that she'd been thrown away by a breeder bc she was too old to breed any longer!
I was finally able to convince him to leave the window cracked down and I felt better to see she drank the cold water I gave her but the whole time the couple was eating, my heart was breaking for Anna.

I just spoke to my local police dept. to see if they would respond to a call to save a dog locked in a car. They're answer was maybe...depending on who takes the call! She also said that if they decide to send out an officer, it will depend on him/her whether they charge the person with animal cruelty or not!
Sadly, it's going to be a long, hot, heartbreaking summer for these dogs in my area again!

[Wylie's Mom]

Bumping this thread for Summer 2014. PLEASE EVERYONE, get familiar with your city's laws regarding animals in hot cars! Here in AZ, we can absolutely call 911 / the police if we see an animal in a too-hot car.

Table of State Laws for Animals Left in Parked Vehicles

[matese]

Originally Posted by wisteria

I am in PA.....just looked it up do you believe we don't have any? VERY SAD

I just did the same thing, unbelievable, there in NO LAW against leaving a dog in the car.

[KazzyK810]

I just wrote this on another thread, so copying it here:

"Just because your State isn't listed doesn't mean that there aren't laws in place to protect animals. Michigan isn't listed, yet MCL 750.50 is used to enforce animal neglect and cruelty. Michigan was listed in the top five states last year as best places for animals, so even though it may not have a specific law dealing with hot cars, laws are enforced to protect animals in harmful situations."

Look up your States law. Sometimes you may get an uniformed Officer and if you tell them the law that is being violated, they are more likely to respond appropriately quickly.

[Britster]

This article kind of sums up my feelings on breaking windows:

It's getting HOT in here, so.....bust out the windows of that car that isn't your's?* - Bravo Dogs

I think there are a lot of idiots out there and yes you absolutely should eyeball each situation carefully. But don't automatically assume that a dog in a car is "suffering" or go breaking any windows without knowing the facts. A LOT of cars have it to where you can turn the AC on from your keys even if they are not in the ignition. All my parents cars have this. There have been occasions when we run into Walgreens or CVS for example and leave the 3 dogs in the car while we are in there for 5-10 mins. If I came out to a broken window and 3 VERY stressed out dogs (Jackson does NOT like to be approached or touched by strangers, and our dog Buddy WOULD bite you) .. I would be pissed. And yes occasionally I do leave Jackson in the car because he's with me a LOT... I travel between houses often and it's simply not always feasible to drop him off first and then go somewhere after. Now I won't leave him for longer than 5-10 mins, and I would NEVER go into a grocery store or Walmart, etc, but I think if a person does leave a dog in the car, in the shade, windows down, on a decent day, I'm not going to flip out about it.

[yorkietalkjilly]

Still, if in doubt and the dog seems to be panting hard and his tail down, vomiting, standing very still with his head and tail down or lying inert, any doglover will break the window and be prepared to deal with the consequences, which could be a saved dog or a lawsuit or both.

[Wylie's Mom]

Bumping again. A person here in Phoenix left their 6mth old pittie in their car to go shopping when the high was 110 degrees here!!! The dog died - it's body temp was SO high that the Human Ass'n couldn't actually get an accurate reading on it. It was all over the news here.

PLEASE have a plan as to what you will do / can do should you witness an animal in a hot car this summer!

[MissPixi]

Our cops will come out Immediately. I wouldn't personally hesitate to break out a window. I can't sit back and just watch as a dog suffers or dies.

I also wouldn't feel bad calling 911 saying there is a baby in the car....Oh!!! that's what I call dogs.... babies.