Last weekend it was 85 degrees in Solana Beach.
I went to the store to buy Benadryl for my dog because he has hot spots and this gives him some relief.
There’s a Petco next door, and I decided to bring my dog along so he could take a walk in the air-conditioned Petco after I picked up his medicine. We do not have AC at home, and my dog was uncomfortable.
When I went into the store, I parked under a tree and left my dog in the car with the windows up. I knew I would be less than 5 minutes. Sometimes he whines when I leave him; that’s why I didn’t crack the windows.
I trotted in, grabbed the Benadryl just in the doorway, used the self-checkout and was back within 4 minutes tops.
My dog did not die.
He was not any more uncomfortable than he had been earlier, but I have to say I was concerned there would already be some weirdo in the parking lot ready to call the police.
It’s southern California; there’s no shortage of nuts.
This is the world we live in, where good dog owners are running into stores worried someone will break into their vehicle in an attempt to do a “good deed.”
I’m thankful for fall, for cooler temperatures. More dogs will get to go places.
Ace and I had a great time strolling through the air-conditioned Petco, carefully checking out all the toys, bones and food. He forgot about his hot spots and his achy limbs. He gently touched his nose to each bin of goodies, wagging his tail, glancing up at me.
I’m glad he didn’t get to miss out.
I love seeing dogs in cars.
Further reading:
How long can my dog be in a hot car?
Would you break a window to save a dog?
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Alison
Saturday 10th of October 2015
I think if more places had drive through so this would be a non issue. But I guess that's why there is amazon!
Anyway, I'm in Alabama so I don't leave the dogs in the car. If I go to Petco and only Petco I'll take one. We have gone I. Vacations were the homes we stayed in allowed pets but we did not feel comfortable leaving them in the house when we left to eat. So we left the.m in the car in the gated back with all windows down.
That's as risky as I get-it was February in TN and it was warm for tbat time of year but still not hot 55-60 degrees.
Jessica
Wednesday 7th of October 2015
Love this post. I'm over all the crazies that are 'rescuing' dogs from cars. We leave our dog in the truck (in Texas) to run into a store real quick (say..the liquor store) but if it is hot at all, we leave the truck running and A/C on. I'm more worried some crazy will break our windows than I am about my dog dying in the car in 5-10 minutes...
Jen Gabbard
Wednesday 30th of September 2015
It's a tough call - of course I trust that certain people know better than to leave their dogs in cars for extended periods of time, but then in the back of my mind I wonder how many people don't have that common sense. This summer when a few police officers had K9s die in their cars seems to have made this a much bigger "debate." It's just hard to debate something with so much grey in the middle - there's a huge difference between 5 minutes & and hour.
Patty
Wednesday 30th of September 2015
While I will admit some people get a little out of control with "rescuing" dogs from cars, there are also a lot of people out there that don't think about the dangers of leaving dogs in cars in the heat. I live in Northern California and it is not unusual for it to get over 100 during the summer. There are numerous cases on the news every year of people leaving their dogs in the car in the sun while they go shopping in the mall and the dogs die. I'm not saying I am one of the nutjobs that would break someones window to rescue a dog, but I think people need to be aware of the dangers of leaving dogs in hot cars.
Anna
Tuesday 29th of September 2015
This article:
http://www.bedlamfarm.com/2015/07/12/onions-hot-cars-ponies-panic-and-greed-fear-and-loathing-in-the-animal-world/
"I remember a few months ago taking a photo of a Lab riding along in a car, as he has done for all 15 years of his life, summer and winter, and being inundated by messages urging me to report the owner to the police, to check and make sure he was hydrated and, if there was any doubt, to bust open the window and pull him or call the police and have his owner arrested. I remember that day, it was cloudy and 50 degrees outside at noon.
None of the messengers had any idea just where I lived, when the photo was taken, what the temperature was. I learned then – it was a creepy thing to learn – that there are many people in the world who ride around looking at cars in parking lots in the hopes of finding a dog in them who is suffering. And many who patrol the borders of farms in the hope of finding the same thing."
Lindsay Stordahl
Tuesday 29th of September 2015
YES. All of that.