If you saw a dog left in the car with the windows cracked open. The car was parked in a large shopping mall. The external temperature was in the mid 80. Would you: 1) call 911? 2) break the windows? 3) call the staff/manager of the nearest store?

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SoCal for now.

4) Ignore it.


I'd do #3 unless the dog was visibly suffering, then I'd call 911.

Quote
kap
If you saw a dog left in the car with the windows cracked open. The car was parked in a large shopping mall. The external temperature was in the mid 80. Would you: 1) call 911? 2) break the windows? 3) call the staff/manager of the nearest store?

I have personally done 1, and 2, for both a dog and a baby.
Also it is now illegal to leave a baby/animal in a vehicle in Los Angeles, if not the whole state, no matter what the temperature.
The Staff/Manager has enough problems.

BGnR

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"If we dig precious things from the land, we will invite disaster."
"Near the day of Purification, there will be cobwebs spun back and forth in the sky."
"A container of ashes might one day be thrown from the sky, which could burn the land and boil the oceans."

I would do nothing.

I'd be likely to do a combination of things, depending on the exact situation. First, I'd make sure the child or animal is not in immediate distress. If they are, I wouldn't have a problem breaking a window, and then I'd call 911 and report what I'd done. If they're not in immediate distress, my next step would depend on the location. Around here, most of the large shopping malls have their own security force. I'd contact them before I'd call 911. They have a authority over their turf, and they also have better access to law enforcement. They can also a) respond more quickly, and b) broadcast a description of the car and the license plate number so that the owner might be located. If there's no on-site security, I would call 911.

Unless the dog was in obvious danger and it was a life or death thing it's not my dog and none of my biz. If it was a kid different story. There is never a good reason to leave a kid in a car alone.

AAA, I did that ONCE. And the guilt burns in my conscience. I will call 911 in the next incident. For pet related calls. I wish there was another number set up. One that would allow the operators to connect to the closest animal shelter or humane society. 911 is already taxed to its limit.

BGR, yes, there are laws passed recently about leaving animals in car. Still, I have seen dogs left in cars in hot weather. I GENTLY and CAREFULLY approached one owner. Man, she was all defensive, "I love my dogs. I wouldn't do anything to harm them. I was in the store for a minute!"

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SoCal for now.

i'd hotwire the car and turn on the ac

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kap
BGR, yes, there are laws passed recently about leaving animals in car. Still, I have seen dogs left in cars in hot weather. I GENTLY and CAREFULLY approached one owner. Man, she was all defensive, "I love my dogs. I wouldn't do anything to harm them. I was in the store for a minute!"

I am probably at an advantage in these situations, I am usually the tallest person in the area and I have a "I'm in charge" look from years of teaching.
Also, I am dead calm and don't let folks get to me.
Yea, I love those "I was only away for a second" folks.
Keep up the good fight Kap.

BGnR

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"Good heavens, Miss Sakamoto! You're beautiful!"
"If we dig precious things from the land, we will invite disaster."
"Near the day of Purification, there will be cobwebs spun back and forth in the sky."
"A container of ashes might one day be thrown from the sky, which could burn the land and boil the oceans."

If you touch the car and there is nothing wrong with the dog you risk being sued.
If that's a show dog and they can claim traumitization of any sort/degree you can be sued big time.
Just because there may or may not be a law that may or may not apply to the EXACT situation at hand does not give you license to play hero.
Doing the right thing can mean absolutely nothing in court.

Nothing like breaking a window to try to help a dog and then being blamed for it's coronary and you've got absolutely no way to prove it's not your fault.

Quote
billb
If you touch the car and there is nothing wrong with the dog you risk being sued.
If that's a show dog and they can claim traumitization of any sort/degree you can be sued big time.
Just because there may or may not be a law that may or may not apply to the EXACT situation at hand does not give you license to play hero.
Doing the right thing can mean absolutely nothing in court.

Nothing like breaking a window to try to help a dog and then being blamed for it's coronary and you've got absolutely no way to prove it's not your fault.

LOL!
SoSuMi!

BGnR

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"Good heavens, Miss Sakamoto! You're beautiful!"
"If we dig precious things from the land, we will invite disaster."
"Near the day of Purification, there will be cobwebs spun back and forth in the sky."
"A container of ashes might one day be thrown from the sky, which could burn the land and boil the oceans."

dont call 911, they are already overwhelmed with people calling and asking things like "is today tuesday or wednesday?" -- no joke

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Edited 999 time(s). Last edit at 12:08PM by jdc.

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jdc
dont call 911, they are already overwhelmed with people calling and asking things like "is today tuesday or wednesday?" -- no joke

[www.youtube.com]

I keep the numbers of all the local PDs and the SO on Favorites.

You can contact them directly and not tie up 911, though if the dog was in *obvious* distress, a 911 call would most likely not get you "yelled at".

By contacting them directly, they can notify Animal Control. Not always an ideal situation, but one that may help.

In the case of acting on your own and breaking a window, a law suit would be a reach in most cases but breaking a window *could* result in an arrest should you or the police not be able to verify your rescue effort.

A child is a different story, but not all that different. Just within the last two-three days, a "nanny" was arrested for leaving a very young child (2yo?) in the car while she was doing something else, shopping, I think. A man noticed the baby, called 911, and the baby was rescued. The nanny was arrested when she returned 45min later. There was no mention of how long the baby had been in the car prior to the man's discovery.

Years ago, I started carrying a spring-loaded center punch in my vehicles. It makes opening windows very easy. Should you avail yourself of that course of action, you should a) have a phone and immediately call 9-1-1, b) be close to a phone and call 9-1-1, or c) start yelling for SOMEbody to call 9-1-1. You want to avoid the delay and confusion of being mistaken for an auto burglar, dognapper, or kidnapper.

When intervening for the welfare of an animal or person, it's even better when you're not on the receiving end of "no good deed going unpunished".

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An armed society is a polite society.
And hope is a lousy defense.

You make me pull, I'll put you down.

I *love* SIGs. It's Glocks I hate.

>> You want to avoid the delay and confusion of being mistaken for an auto burglar, dognapper, or kidnapper.

i actually saw something on one of the evening news shows (like 60 minutes) about some sort of security expert that was showing how he could do this in broad daylight -- trying to break car windows in the middle of the day -- and people offered to help him "get into his car" as he told them

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Edited 999 time(s). Last edit at 12:08PM by jdc.

Call Michael Vick. He'd know what to do.

Dogs fall under the tangible personal property laws.
Children do not.

Two completely different situations.
Comparing the two is ludicrous.

Just because your state may have a law prohibiting leaving a pet in a poor situation does not mean that all the same laws that apply to rescuing a child apply to a dog. They don't. They maybe should, but they don't. You're not even comparing apples and oranges here.


I'd want to hang around and get the guy's address so I could call him at 2AM like this: [forums.macresource.com]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/31/2007 01:47PM by billb.

I agree the situation between a child and dog is completely different and not comparable. If the child was obviously in distress or dying (not sure how you would know that actually), then you would be likely justified in breaking the window and rescueing the child.

Otherwise, I am not sure if there is a legal justification for breaking the window. That is intentional damage to private property. Necessity may or may not be an appropriate defense, but I don't see why you want to go there. Calling the authorities is the obvious choice. I am not sure how any of you know that your 911 system is "overloaded" (and if so, that is a policy and resource issue to pursue in your community), but for a child at least, that certainly seems like an appropriate call.

My other concern with breaking the window is you expose yourself to getting punched in the face, or worst, when they return to the car. There are lots of idiots in the world, and you are opening yourself up to possibly retaliation that is almost never going to be necessary.

Something like #3. I'd ask to call animal control from the nearest store.

As to why that way instead of using my cell phone, it's simple. In a situation like that, I'd want affirmation of my judgment and someone to pass the responsibility to while I ducked out to finish my errands.

And now, THE CORRECT ANSWER!!

The best course of action in the above-described situation is as follows:
1. Determine if the dog is in distress. If so, call the NON-emergency local police number or animal control number, give them the location and license # of the vehicle, and (if you wish) wait for them to arrive. Flag down mall security if available. DO NOT confront the owner if they return. LET THEM HANDLE IT FROM THERE.

2. If the animal is not in immediate distress, notify the store manager or mall security of the situation and ask them to make a general announcement requesting the owner to return to their vehicle.

If, on the other hand, you see a unattended car with a child inside AT ANY TIME, call the police (emergency number if child is in distress, non-emergency number otherwise) and wait for the police to arrive (mall security can be alerted as well if available). LET THEM HANDLE IT FROM THERE.

This information comes courtesy the Maitland FL and Winter Park FL police departments (I was intrigued by the question and called my wife to have her find out for me) and should be considered a summary of their advice, not "written in stone" for all communities. Local laws can vary greatly. Nonetheless, sounds like good guidance to me.

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chas_m




[crawlingfromtheusa.blogspot.com] <-- Moving to Canada blog

So, what did you decide to do about this dog?
Better hurry, time's a-wastin'.

AAA, I did that ONCE. And the guilt burns in my conscience. I will call 911 in the next incident. For pet related calls. I wish there was another number set up. One that would allow the operators to connect to the closest animal shelter or humane society. 911 is already taxed to its limit.

BGR, yes, there are laws passed recently about leaving animals in car. Still, I have seen dogs left in cars in hot weather. I GENTLY and CAREFULLY approached one owner. Man, she was all defensive, "I love my dogs. I wouldn't do anything to harm them. I was in the store for a minute!"

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SoCal for now.

Quote
h'
So, what did you decide to do about this dog?
Better hurry, time's a-wastin'.

lol

Seems if I want to rescue dogs stuck in hot cars, there'd be a multitude of choices in every parking lot I'm ever in. I'd be rescuing all day. But then it doesn't get too too hot in this part of the bay.