Recent blog postings on the dangers of keeping dogs in cars on hot days have been met with mostly supportive comments from readers, but the polar opposite reaction from people on the streets.
One can rant and rave all they want about people underestimating the temperature inside the vehicle on a given day and overestimating a dog’s ability to diffuse the heat. The heat inside the vehicle rises quickly and dogs do not have a good biological system to handle that.
I do not make it a habit of walking around town searching for dogs in cars, but when I see one in a particular precarious predicament, I do something about it.
Not a single person whose dog I have expressed concern over has ever so much as said thanks. A thanks is not why one steps in and gets involved, but I have to admit to being a bit taken aback by how angry people get over being given a heads up that their dog appears in trouble.
In an effort to figure out if there is some trick or phrase one can use in these situations, I sought out two animal control officers, who have some 20 years of combined experience in the field. One officer, who worked for several years in Sonoma and Marin counties, said in seven years of pulling dogs out of cars, many of the dogs dead, she has received only one thank you. The lone thank you came from a woman, who ran to the vehicle teary-eyed that she had done damage to her dog and immensely relieved to find the officer cooling the dog off in the shade.
“People scream at you, get offended and call us every vile name in the book,” said Officer Gwen Fry. She said the best thing to do is to “tune them out, not get emotionally involved and remember that you are doing it for the dog.”
Fry added, “People get really, really upset when by the mere fact you are caring for their dog, you are calling into question their ability as a pet owner. And you are, especially when you write them a citation. But they can argue with the judge because there will have to appear in court, if they want to argue further,” said Fry.
Both of the officers said you try to do some humane education on every call, but sometimes it’s not a teaching moment, but a save the dog’s life moment.
They said you are often not going to change people’s minds on the danger their dog was in. But at that moment, at that time, you made life better for that one animal.
