Thu
Jul 15 2010
06:25 pm
By: R. Neal

The Mrs. was at a popular West Knox lunch spot today and noticed a distressed dog in a parked car with the windows partially rolled down.

She went back inside and asked an employee if she knew whose dog it was. The employee asked around and found the owner, a young woman who said "oh, it's ok, the windows are down and he has plenty of water." The employee said the dog had been in the car for over an hour. Others had reported it, too. The employee said somebody should call the cops, so the Mrs. did. She didn't hang around to find out what happened.

What's wrong with people? How many kids and dogs die every year from being locked in a parked car in 90-100 degree heat, where temperatures inside the car can rapidly reach 150? Dogs can't sweat. Extreme temperatures can quickly cause brain damage and/or internal organ failure. Even if the dog survives, it can suffer permanent organ damage.

I'm not a lawyer, but I'm pretty sure someone leaving a dog in a parked car on a day like today could end up being charged with animal cruelty, which I believe is a Class A misdemeanor under Tennessee law.

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bizgrrl's picture

I did wait around long enough

I did wait around long enough for the dog's owner to return to the car. I would not have left without the owner or the police arriving to rescue the dog. While I was watching her and her friends stand around the car talking, a man went up to them and said something about them leaving the dog in the car in the heat.

I was very saddened by this young lady's lack of caring for her dog, a basset hound.

Rachel's picture

Good on bizgrrl for taking

Good on bizgrrl for taking action.

I had a friend who lost a cat because she climbed into the backseat of the car one summer day when he was cleaning it out. He didn't see her, shut her up, and an hour or so later it was too late.

Tamara Shepherd's picture

Today?

Geez, it got up to 95 degrees today!

(Wasn't much fun mowing, either.)

smalc's picture

I witnessed a similar

I witnessed a similar incident at Earth Fare a few weeks ago. As I was going in I saw a group of people gathered around a car in the far end of the lot. As I was leaving there was an animal control truck parked beside with the officer talking to an Earth Fare employee, who was holding a dog on a leash. Who knows how long he had planned to leave that dog in the car. An entire shift, I suppose.

redmondkr's picture

Unfortunately many people

Unfortunately many people consider dogs and cats just fashion accessories.

Mary the prez's picture

Some humans should not own pets and

of course, some people should NOT have kids...period.

Bbeanster's picture

Do you advocate

Do you advocate sterilization?

Of dog owners–
The kind who do what BIzgrrl reported, and the kind who parade their dogs around downtown in 95% weather when the sidewalks are blistering hot to the touch. And especially the guy who put a muzzle on his dog to take him to the farmer's market in 90+ degree heat.

Imagine how they'd treat children.

talidapali's picture

wish we had...

animal cops like they have in Houston...or whatever that city is that's on the Animal Planet Animal Cops show. They would have arrested the woman for animal cruelty on the spot and taken the dog to a vet first then the ASPCA shelter to hold it until the court hearing at which the woman would probably have been relieved of the burden of taking care of the poor thing. Obviously it was too much trouble for her to find a place to eat that she would be allowed to have the dog with her on the patio. Or better yet, she could have left the little one home in the air conditioning and just cleaned up the poop when she got home if the dog wasn't house trained yet.

People like her deserve to sit in an un-air-conditioned jail cell for a weekend...see how she likes it.

bizgrrl's picture

Obviously it was too much

Obviously it was too much trouble for her to find a place to eat that she would be allowed to have the dog with her on the patio.

I wished I had mentioned that option to her. There was a Panera just down the street with a patio. They usually allow dogs on the patio.

talidapali's picture

Everywhere I went in Scotland...

Restaurants that had patios on them (and there was at least one on every city block in both Glasgow and Edinburgh) allowed dogs as long as they were leashed and the owner had the leash fastened to their chair or a sturdy railing.

Too bad that Knoxville is not a more walkable city. I enjoyed walking around and getting to know Edinburgh and Glasgow...both cities had very lively town centers with government, shopping, and entertainment and night life going on in a very walkable enjoyable area.

And lots of people in both cities took their dogs with them everywhere...even grocery stores had a leash tie up rail outside so that the owner could pop into the store real fast to grab some groceries while Fido waited outside without being in traffic or the way of pedestrians.

redmondkr's picture

According to my paperwork

According to my paperwork Lulu is three years old today. It's just an estimate of course based on an examination when she was rescued on this date last summer.

Her family just up and moved away leaving her holed up in a crawl space starving and infested with heart worm. She was captured by animal control and taken to a shelter that doesn't bother trying to place evil Rottweilers. One of the staff had pity on her, called a rescue volunteer, and my little girl was saved.

I firmly believe that we all do eventually reap that which we sow.

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