What Would You Do?

Well, it won’t be long before the weather warms up around here again. Heck, a couple of days ago it was up around 80, in the middle of January. Are you humans sure you’ve got this global warming thing under control? Along with the warmer weather comes my annual reminder to take care of your best friend(s). Don’t leave ‘em in the car, it can go from comfortable to life-threatening in, literally, minutes.

Now I know you all have been there. You’re just getting out of your car at the Pig. It’s pretty warm out and you notice that the vehicle next to you has the windows all rolled up (or cracked 1/2 inch, it makes no difference) and there is a dog inside. What would you do? Okay, I know what I’d do, I’d get my dad’s attention and let him know that there’s a problem. He’s much better at communicating with other humans and, if the need arose to break out a window, he’s much more adept with tools. Try as I might, with no opposable thumbs, I just can’t get the things to perform as intended. I usually end up just chewing up the handle. I think though you can see where I’m going with this. Whatever you do, do not make the mistake of thinking the other person has it covered. On a warm day (just warm, I’m not talking 103 degrees here), that dog has minutes to live. If they had it covered, they would have never left their dog in that situation in the first place. Even in this day and age, there are some folks who do not have a clue. A few years back, there was a woman up in Carolina who went to work for her 8 hour shift and left her toddlers in the car with the windows rolled up, IN JULY! They had a bad day.

Okay, so the last thing you want to do is continue merrily on your way sort of hoping that the owner gets out there in time, while his dog is still capable of forgiving him for his stupidity. The odds of that happening though are very slim. So what are your options? A lot of that would depend upon the situation. I won’t presume to tell you what to do but I know that if the dog appeared to be in distress (lethargic, unresponsive, lying upside down to help radiate heat from its body) my dad would have absolutely no compunctions against breaking out a window and I’ll even give him the benefit of the doubt to assume that he tried the doors before reaching for the tire iron. Hopefully it doesn’t come to that ‘cause then you’ve got to get the sheriff involved and answer a bunch of questions and no one wants that hassle although you may indeed decide to do that anyway to pursue an animal cruelty complaint. Usually, stores are real good about making an announcement from the courtesy desk to have the owner tend to their pet’s plight and if you can get in and out quick enough or, better yet, have someone else to send, you might be able to get the owners attention in a timely fashion. Unfortunately though, it’s not quite that simple. Did the car’s owner go into the Pig or are they in one of the other five stores in the block? Did they hear and heed the announcement? Do they even care? These are all things that we do not want to leave to chance. We have a medical emergency here! If you can’t stay with the vehicle, get back to it as quick as you can and try to continually assess the dog’s condition. If help isn’t immediately forthcoming, a call to rescue services is certainly in order but even then, you may have to make that tough decision to provide the animal with fresh air and water by whatever means are at your disposal before outside help arrives. Sure, you’ll have some explaining to do but you’ll be able to sleep a lot better and I assure you that the dog’s human will have a whole lot more explaining to do. 30 days in a nice cool jail cell would provide plenty of opportunity for him to reflect on his callousness.

Even now, it’s not necessarily over yet. Depending on how overheated the dog got, you may still have a medical emergency at hand. It’s not pretty when a dog falls out from the heat and even in an environment where air conditioning, fans and cold packs are available it can be touch and go. Their survival is not guaranteed. If the dog is hyperthermic, it needs more that just cool air and a bowl of water; it needs medical attention, quickly. Body temperature needs to be reduced as quickly as possible without inducing shock to prevent damage to the brain and other organs. Every situation is going to be a little different, so it’s a good time to think on your feet which is something you humans excel at. Just keep in mind, if it were a human child, what would you be doing? The medical situation is no different here, just the species.

No one gets up in the morning thinking, “I’m going to be a hero today.” But then the Collie who saved her family from the fire didn’t go to bed thinking, “I’m going to be a hero tonight.” The Lab who pulled the drowning toddler to safety didn’t think as he was jumping into the truck, “Oh boy. I’m going to be a hero today!” It’s all about doing the right thing when faced with an emergency and recognizing that an emergency exists is a necessary part of the equation. You humans are capable of so much more that just racing around and barking to sound the alarm. When you encounter a dog in this predicament, won’t you please put your talents to work on our behalf? We’d do the same for you.