Cail residents, whats your take on leaving a pet in a car while you are eating?

Joeaksa · 10-08-2009, 08:09 AM

Was recently on Facebook where a friend of mine commented that she was going to lunch and saw where someone had locked their pet dog inside a car. They had then gone inside the air conditioned restaurant to have lunch.

She was pondering calling the police to get the animal out of the car. First of the people who replied said yes to call the police that this is illegal and not safe for the animal.

Then a couple of jerks chime on saying that it was none of her business and that we should do nothing.

I posted that its against the law to leave an animal in a closed car like that and that she should call the police. Well the discussion really degenerates and one of these two jerks starts calling me names and saying that its none of my business and so on.

What is everyone's thoughts about this? Personally I feel the same about a pet that I would a small child and leaving either in a locked car while the parents are inside having lunch or dinner is not an option. We have kids die from idiots who do this here and its against the law. As well believe that California has a law against it but these guys evidently cannot read or simply do not care.

m21sniper · 10-08-2009, 08:11 AM

It depends on the temperature. If it's not hot i see no problem with it at all. If it is hot i'd bust the poor little fidos out myself if i had to.

vash · vash's Garage

i couldnt stay in a vehicle during the warm months...i dont expect a furry animal to fare any better. i would call the cops, and make it their decision.

winter months...tough call. i once had an animal lover friend that tried to make the dog owner think the dog pissed in the car. this would involve him sticking his pecker in the car, and peeing thru the cracked opened window. i stopped the idiot by saying, "what if the dog bites your dcik?" he didnt think of it. i left. i bet my friend peed in a cup, and tossed it in. idiot.

Pazuzu · 10-08-2009, 08:16 AM

Not a Cali resident, but I don't think that matters here.

The problem is a question of escalation. Yes, calling the cops is one option, but it escalates things too far too quickly.
I would do one of two things...either walk into the establishment and alert the management there that one of their patrons has a dog in the car, and could they please talk to them, or ask if *I* could talk to them. Even if it meant standing there and yelling "hey, who left their dog in the car to die!". What, the person gets horribly embarrassed? Fine, at least they go fix the problem. The police option involves someone being embarrassed, AND getting fined/jailed, AND taking officers off the beat to deal with something that could be solved without them. Too much escalation too quickly for the incident.

dhoward · dhoward's Garage

Common sense.
Whatever happened to it?
If it's too hot, then no.
If it's not then WTF?

Rikao4 · 10-08-2009, 08:28 AM

agree with Mike on this..
I have no -problem ventilating your car should I find a animal takin a sauna & and you are un-available...

Rika

Joeaksa · 10-08-2009, 08:29 AM

Guys, several things to mention here.

Its against the law in California and most other states for that matter to leave an animal in a closed car. There is no question about that. The law does not mention a thing about day or night, summer or winter, its against the law. Its a misdemeanor and up to 6 months in prison for this alone, and if the animal dies, its a felony!

Now I agree in principal about going into the restaurant and saying something to the manager but what if there are 3-4 places to eat. Do you waste your time going to each one? Its not your place and may get you into a fight if the animals owner is even more of a jerk.

Now these two idiots say "I would never do this to my kids, but its ok with an animal!" What kind of people does Cali have living there?

vash · vash's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pazuzu

Not a Cali resident, but I don't think that matters here.

The problem is a question of escalation. Yes, calling the cops is one option, but it escalates things too far too quickly.
I would do one of two things...either walk into the establishment and alert the management there that one of their patrons has a dog in the car, and could they please talk to them, or ask if *I* could talk to them. Even if it meant standing there and yelling "hey, who left their dog in the car to die!". What, the person gets horribly embarrassed? Fine, at least they go fix the problem. The police option involves someone being embarrassed, AND getting fined/jailed, AND taking officers off the beat to deal with something that could be solved without them. Too much escalation too quickly for the incident.

you yelling, "hey, who left their dog in the car to die!". will not embarrass the dog owner? subtle. no...i will not put myself into any potential fight. i would defer to the experts...firemen, or cops.

Drdogface · Drdogface's Garage

I might be tempted to bust the pooch out and take him home... If they leave him there too cook in the heat they be unworthy of owning a dog.

Of course this all is assuming it's a warm day.... cooler days, no big deal but at least leave a two windows open a bit for cross ventilation.

speeder · speeder's Garage

Really depends... is the definition of "closed car" mean all windows shut completely? I constantly left my dog in my car or truck but with windows partially open and never in the hot sun on a hot day. My dogs loved chilling in the car, it was their dog house on wheels.

If someone cooks or suffocates an animal, that's another story. Completely unacceptable and I would not hesitate to call cops, etc. I have seen people freaking over a dog in a car when it's not dangerously hot, though. Some people are a little crazy. Common sense is right. What happened to it?

Pazuzu · 10-08-2009, 08:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vash

you yelling, "hey, who left their dog in the car to die!". will not embarrass the dog owner? subtle. no...i will not put myself into any potential fight. i would defer to the experts...firemen, or cops.

No, it will embarrass them, that's the point. Would you as the inattentive dog owner rather be embarrassed by someone calling you out, or by the cops busting into your car and then arresting you in front of everyone? Yer gonna get embarrassed one way or the other...

We can sit and argue the what ifs all day long (what if it was in a parking garage, etc). Certain circumstances I'd call the cops. Certain times I'd bust the window open myself. In general though, I'd try to take the path of least resistance and least escalation.

rammstein · 08:58 AM

If it is 50 degrees and cloudy outside, and the windows are cracked, then the dog is probably having fun. No foul.

If it is 90 degrees and sunny, you need to do something, whether it be going into the restaurant to find the owners, calling the police, etc. If I saw a dog that looked like it was having heat-stroke, I'd smash the window immediately and get the dog's temperature down. No question.

fingpilot · 08:56 AM

I was in my P/U the other day with the black lab in the bed (suitably, legally restrained) with his bowl of water. Went to Costco, where there is a row of parking spaces that have large overhanging trees along one edge of the lot. Waited for all of two minutes while an elderly citizen unloaded all of his groceries into his car. For some reason, the 3 or 4 cars behind me were unwilling to go around, and chose to sit behind me, waiting for the same spot, I imagine.

As the senior pulled out, I backed into the spot, so the dog could have the shade. Locked the cab, with the dog in the bed, and as I was walking into the store, a lady (turns out the one behind me in the line of cars), came up to me laughing and apologized. I asked for what, and she said she had been pissed at me for holding up the line (somehow), until she saw what I was doing, as I was doing it. She said she saw the same recognition from the people behind her.

I would have put off shopping there unless I could have gotten him a shady spot, and have before. It gets well over 100F here in the summer.

If I see someone else's animal in a spot, I'll make a reasonable attempt to find the owner, but would not be hesitant to solving the problem myself. Have never had to go that far yet.

ckissick · 10-08-2009, 09:02 AM

What's to discuss? If it's hot out, don't leave the dog in the car. If it's cool out, who cares?

Back in January, the family took a drive down the coast and visited the Pigeon Point lighthouse. Being a lighthouse, it's right on the coast, and it was a cool, blustery winter day. We left the dog in the car with the windows cracked.

Long story short, a very distraught lady found us and went into a rant about how we're killing our dog. We ignored her and later went back to the car, where the dog was happily napping in a car that had an inside temp of about 60 degrees. The lady tried to call the cops to have us all arrested, but her cell phone didn't work. What a moron.

rammstein · 10-08-2009, 09:07 AM

A little common sense and good judgement goes a long way.

Heel n Toe · 10-08-2009, 09:10 AM

fing, good for you for giving you dog the consideration of parking him in the shade... also for restraining him in a suitable way and providing him with water. I have a question, though: wouldn't he be in danger of getting seriously hurt if you were involved in a wreck?

That goes to a larger question I have. I can't figure out why so many people wanna take their dog with 'em everywhere they go. If the dog has free run inside the car, that's distracting to the driver, and the dog is definitely vulnerable if there's a collision.

Our dog only rides when were taking him somewhere for a reason... the vet, to a friend's house because they're keeping him while we're out of town, etc.

In case anyone is interested, for restraint, we put him on the back seat with a leash on, and there's a strategically-placed knot tied in the leash, and when he hops in we hold the leash so the knot is just outside the door edge when we close it, and that keeps him restrained to half of the back seat, or the floor if he decides to go there.

Some of y'all are talking about the laws in California on leaving animals in locked cars... is there a law that prevents people from driving around with the dog in their lap and running around in the car while it's moving?

m21sniper · 10-08-2009, 09:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joeaksa

Guys, several things to mention here.

Its against the law in California and most other states for that matter to leave an animal in a closed car. There is no question about that. The law does not mention a thing about day or night, summer or winter, its against the law. Its a misdemeanor and up to 6 months in prison for this alone, and if the animal dies, its a felony!

This is actually black and white proof that many laws are stupid.

If it's 65 degrees outside a dog is perfectly safe inside a closed up car.

masraum · 10-08-2009, 09:16 AM

Even in the winter, if it's sunny, it can get really hot inside a car. Yeah, call the cops.

m21sniper · 09:23 AM

From a guy that's done lots of surveillance in winter in a non running car on all manner of days....no it can't get very hot inside. (Well, not around here. It's freaking cold here in the winter!)

If only.

legion · 10-08-2009, 09:20 AM

I left my MIL's dog locked in my truck for over an hour on Saturday. I didn't crack the windows.

It was 55º and cloudy. I have a full-sized truck--lot's of air volume inside. There was a chance of rain at any moment. Oh, and the dog? A maltese that weighs all of ten pounds. The dog simply curled up and slept on the driver's seat until I returned. I let her out both before and after returning to the vehicle.

I agree that a bit of common sense goes a long way. Locking a 90 lb. dog in the car with windows not cracked on a 95º day is bad. Leaving a 10 lb. dog in the same situation on a 55º day isn't.

What I dislike is "blanket" laws that say it is illegal to leave a dog in a car unattended. That makes taking the animal to the vet and picking up carry-out on the way home rather difficult. It infuriates me that people get these stupid, over-reaching laws passed to account for 1% of all dog owners while existing "cruelty to animals" laws would suffice. (Many restaurants are forbidden from allowing animals inside due to health code.)