Somehow Dallas bypassed a slow easing into summer and went directly to the hot zone. Unfortunately that warp speed to hot temperatures has evidently resulted in some brain cells being fried. One example took place Sunday at a grocery store in Old Town.
It started at 2:55 p.m. when a lovely lady — let’s call her Breezy Brenda — departed her car for the store. No big deal about that. Lots of people were shopping. Only Breezy had left a dog in the car and it was 86 degrees. As she left the car, she lowered the back windows of her VW about three to four inches, just enough for the dog to get its nose out, but not enough for it to escape. But that was also enough room for an agitated dog to bite a child who might try to pet the pooch.
Just as she strolled into the store, the medium-size dog started barking, drawing the attention of a woman who had just departed the store with groceries. Let’s call her Joan of Bark. Well, Joan looked incredulous that a dog in the afternoon heat would be left even with windows opened. When asked if she had a dog, Joan said she had just had her dog of 15 years put down.
According to the Humane Society of the United States if you see such a situation,
- Take down the car’s make, model and license-plate number.
- If there are businesses nearby, notify their managers or security guards and ask them to make an announcement to find the car’s owner.
- If the owner can’t be found, call the non-emergency number of the local police or animal control and wait by the car for them to arrive.
Joan was now a woman on a mission. Taking a cellphone snap of the car’s license plate, she returned to the store and told the checkout manager, “Travis,” about the situation. Could he make an announcement of the PA that the dog was in distress? No, the person in charge of such things was not available. What about Old Town security? No, they couldn’t do anything either. Only the police could take charge of the situation and he suggested that someone should call them.
At 3:10 p.m., Breezy finally had her two bags of groceries, took time to tell a package boy that she had told management how wonderful he was, and then she headed to the parking lot…in the wrong direction. Realizing that her car was not where she thought it was, she changed her direction and found the car with a hot dog inside.
The two problems emerging with the summer heat are:
- Children and pets have no place in parked cars even with windows open.
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Any and all retailers that promote themselves as animals’ best friends should take more responsibility by alerting customers of a dangerous situation in their parking lot.
Let’s try to make the summer of 2015 casualty-free by working together and thinking.