A couple of items caught my eye in a recent South Delta Crime Beat report – and not for a good reason.
The two items in question were both instances of dogs left in vehicles – one at Canoe Pass Way, which would be at either the Tsawwassen Commons or Mills malls, and the other was on Westham Island Road.
The mall incident saw a dog locked in a vehicle, the rear window was down four inches, air temp cool and good air flow in/out of the vehicle, according to Delta Police, but it did prompt a police response after a call from a member of the public, and rightly so. The driver, upon his return, was spoken to by police of the dangers of leaving animals in vehicles during hot weather, which I hope was well-received and the owner learned his lesson.
With the incident on Westham Island, a concerned member of the public called police about a dog left in a vehicle in a parking lot. When police arrived, the driver had left, but police managed to catch-up to her speaking with the owner on the phone. The owner thought it was no big deal and the dog was fine with the windows down in 24-plus degree heat.
I’m struggling to comprehend why we are still having issues with owners leaving their dogs in vehicles in the hot, summer heat and thinking that it is okay?
Every summer we hear stories and reports in our community and other communities of dogs left in vehicles, many of which end up with police or firefighters busting open a car window to free the dog from the agony of heat exhaustion.
Neither of these two incidents described above went to that extreme, but what if concerned members of the public hadn’t called police to alert them?
The end result could have been dire.
If you are a responsible dog owner and care about your dog, then stop leaving them in a hot car to bake in the heat while running errands. Leave your dog at home.
