Originally Posted by LoveMyGirlz (Post 1107043)

I for one am not offended by your post. There is a very big difference with running into the store for a bottle of water, or running inside to mail a letter, etc....and shopping for clothes at a store or having lunch while your baby is inside a car and with no water in sight! There is a more responsible way to leave your baby if you have to do it but yes, if you are going to the mall and know you want time for YOU, then leave the poor baby at home!!
Not sure about confronting a person, but calling authorities could be the better way to go. Someone posted that some people don't like to be told how to raise their dogs anymore than being told how to raise their children....so does that mean if you see a baby in a carseat, alone in a parked car, we shouldn't be concerned?? Sorry but I couldnt walk away from that! At the very least I would sit in my own car and "babysit" from a far while calling authorities...
This could be a huge debate I know, but I think there is reason to be concerned when we see this being done. I think MOST of us are responsible enough but there are those few that have come back to a dead baby or dead dog - it happens, even with all the reports out there.

Originally Posted by koolbreeze (Post 1107279)

anybody who would stand by and watch a child in a locked car is crazy. i never said not to call the police. i said that no one likes to be told how to raise their children by a complete stranger. that has nothing to do with calling the cops when i child is left in the car. and that parent needs to have the cops called on them. if you haven't noticed not everyone holds dogs in such high regards. and the majority of the world would do anything to protect children. of course we have some idiots out there. but if anyone feels it necessary to call the cops because someone left their dog in the car then go for it. but like on post said most of the time the cops won't do anything.

Originally Posted by marcerella02 (Post 1106616)

easy people... i know sometimes i will run into the bank with Layla in the car... windows down... 5 min tops... she is in her crate in the shade.. and when i can i leave the car running.. don't assume every dog you see has been in there for hours.... sometimes it is less than 5 min... she loves car rides.. and naps when i'm in the store... the people leaving the dogs in their car are not necissarily "bad".... now if a dog is in there for an hour... then i can see getting upset.. but like today.. Layla is with my mom (she LOVES car rides) and my mom is doing running around.. Layla will stay ni her crate for the 2 min she runs into various places.. and she is no worse for wear.. she gets water and fresh air and she is fine :) i dont' think she even knows we are gone! she naps as soon as the car starts moving. just please dotn' assume these dogs' parents dont' care... because we do it too... and we love her more than anythign..

Originally Posted by Doodlebug (Post 1106610)

I am sorry if you feel that we were messing in someone's business that we had no right to do. I don't feel that we took it too far at all.

I was in a different store shopping while my husband waited outside. He saw the yorkie locked in the car for 30 min. while he was waiting for me. He doesn't know how much longer it was in the car before he saw it but it was already in a very stressed state, pacing and panting for air. There was no water for the dog to drink in there and there were other people besides my husband standing around the car concerned about the dog when I came out of the store.

When I said I was going in all the stores until I found the owner, the other people left because it was being taken care of. When the lady came out she said she was in the dressing room trying on clothes. I think she forgot about the dog. If it had been me I would have been grateful that someone saw my dog and called me outside. We are all human and could have been distracted when trying on clothes and forgot we left the dog in the car. The dog was clearly in distress. My husband was talking to the dog thru the car window to try to calm it down. The car windows were cracked about 1/4 inch, not enough to let air in a hot car. The temp was in the 80's.

I didn't really expect the person to let me watch her dog while she shopped. But she started heading back into the store without even opening the car to give the dog some fresh air. She said she wasn't finished trying on clothes. I was trying to think of anything I could to get her to look after her dog. It worked, she got in the car in a huff and left. If she would have gone back in the store I probably would have called the police to hopefully rescue the dog.

I couldn't in good conscience walk away from that scene and leave the dog to convulse and/or die. That car was heating up fast in the hot sun. If I ever come upon this situation again, I will not go looking for the owner, I will call the police or animal welfare people. Maybe that was a mistake. My thought was to save the owner from that kind of scene and possibly a broken car window and also to get relief for the dog as soon as possible.

If that was your dog, what would you have liked me to do? I am asking because it was sort of a panic situation for me and I acted on impulse. What I did may not have been the best thing but I would like to hear what you would have liked someone to do if it had been your dog.

My husband didn't confront her, he just told her he was worried about her dog in the hot car. She went off on him for even saying it. I don't care how mad and upset she was, I wasn't going to stand there and watch that little dog die in that car.

Originally Posted by marcerella02 (Post 1106616)

easy people... i know sometimes i will run into the bank with Layla in the car... windows down... 5 min tops... she is in her crate in the shade.. and when i can i leave the car running.. don't assume every dog you see has been in there for hours.... sometimes it is less than 5 min... she loves car rides.. and naps when i'm in the store... the people leaving the dogs in their car are not necissarily "bad".... now if a dog is in there for an hour... then i can see getting upset.. but like today.. Layla is with my mom (she LOVES car rides) and my mom is doing running around.. Layla will stay ni her crate for the 2 min she runs into various places.. and she is no worse for wear.. she gets water and fresh air and she is fine :) i dont' think she even knows we are gone! she naps as soon as the car starts moving. just please dotn' assume these dogs' parents dont' care... because we do it too... and we love her more than anythign..

Originally Posted by doortego (Post 1107234)

I, of course, think the lady was negligent for leaving the dog in the car while clothes shopping. By its very nature, clothes shopping is not something you can do very quickly.

However, some of us who live away from a metropolitan area can sometimes be put in a very awkward situation where we just can't win. I live approximately 50 miles from any measurable shopping & our vet. Last week I took my little Malt in to get a booster shot and needed something else from "town". I ended up putting her in a carrier and sneaking her into the store, where she promptly began barking,-- that got me ugly looks, had I left her in the car, that would have gotten me worse because it is already hot here in TX so the only thing I could have done that would have pleased anyone was drive my dog 50 miles to the vet, take it home & then get back in the car & drive the 50 miles again.

I've even thought of taking two sets of keys with me so I could leave the dog in the car with the ac running & the doors locked, but I was told it is against the law to go off & leave a car running as well.

I don't really know the answer to this situation other than spending all of my day & most of my money on gas.:confused:

Originally Posted by daisy mae06 (Post 1107713)

LOL I agree it is a long drive for me too. I once had this problem . I just asked my vet if I could leave my dog with them for a hour so she would not be in the heat. They sad NP and No charge )

Originally Posted by doortego (Post 1114654)

Good idea. I don't know if they would let me or not but I sure could have asked:)