IF you own a dog - please read this

Just this afternoon, I actually had a man freak out, call me a F-ing 3itch and literally throw a piece of hardware at my car - lucky for him he missed.

WHY?

Because I came out of Lowes Home Improvement on 40/42 with a couple gallons of paint. I smoked a cigarette outside my car (cause I don't smoke in it) after loading my paint into the back. I stood there watching this poor dog panting like crazy in a vehicle parked not too far from mine. The window on the passenger side (where the dog was seated) was cracked open about 3 inches. I then got into my car and turned on the air and checked voice mail on my cell - still the dogs owner hadn't returned. I pulled out my receipt - by now a good 8 minutes had passed. I dialed Lowes phone number as I drove up to the back of the vehicle so I could give them the license plate number and when they answered I gave them a description of the vehicle and had given them half of the plate number when a man comes out holding his purchase, asking me what my problem was. . .I told him (nicely) that it was too hot for the dog to be left in the car and he went crazy - he insisted he was only in the store for 5 minutes to buy 1 thing and shook it at me (I was in my car) he said that the window was down 5 inches. . .we all know about men and inches :roll:. . .and he said that he had the AC on prior to arriving at Lowes and that it was "perfectly cool in the car still" So I told him, "then YOU sit in it" That's when he called me the colorful words and told me that it was HIS dog and none of my F-ing business! The dude was screaming! People walking through the parking lot were looking. I told him that the dog, like a child, could suffer brain damage or worse from being left in hot cars and he told me it was a dog and not a child. That's when I gave up and started to drive away - he suddenly started running after me, yelling more obscenities and literally threw what he'd purchased at the back of my vehicle - like I said, lucky he missed, or I would have threw it in reverse, ran his arse over and I'd be sitting my butt in jail, rather than relaying this story to you in between painting trim and the walls.

Please watch out for dogs and kids in danger in this heat - some people just don't think.

Below, is a portion of an article from May 18th of this year.

Every year, dogs (and kids) die after being locked inside cars while their owners leave them to shop or run errands, often for “just a few minutes.” These tragedies occur with alarming frequency, yet the animals’ deaths are completely preventable.

“People mean well by taking their dogs or other animals along with them while they work, visit, shop or run errands, but warm weather can turn a car into a death trap,” said UAN President and CEO Nicole Forsyth.

** A Stanford University test found that when it is 72 degrees outside, a car’s internal temperature can rocket to 116 degrees F. within an hour, even with windows cracked.

** When it is 85 degrees outside, the temperature inside a car can soar to 102 degrees in 10 minutes and 120 degrees in 30 minutes.

** A dog can only withstand a high body temperature for a short time before suffering nerve damage, heart problems, liver damage, brain damage or even death.

 

How about you sit in your car as hot as it is today, with no A/C and see if 3 inches is enough. Bull crap it's not her business. :banghead:

 

Some people are just idiots. And this guy really proved it by throwing something at your car.

I know if he was running behind my SUV, I would have slammed on brakes and he would have ran into the bumper. Then it would have been on like Donkey Kong!

 

SO, you would leave YOUR dog in a car ???

BULL CRAP!! They had every right to say something. The man is LUCKY that the cops weren't called, ESPECIALLY after the idiot threw something at the car!

Try sitting in a car with a 3-5 inch crack in the window, you'd be panting just like that dog was!!

 

No, you fool, I don't litter - I dropped it in a water bottle which I keep capped in my car for such purposes.

BTW - do YOU drive a red Chevy Monte Carlo?

 

3-5inches... I see you have large expectations... :jester::jester:

seriously 3-5 inches in high temps isn't going to do squat except act like a tease, no need to come down on an animal lover that shows concern for the well being of them.

I could say follow your own advice and mind your own business...

 

I guess you were right... by seeing the responses to your post.... :withstupid:

 

You did the right thing. Period. :hurray::cheers:

 

Good for you Zoo. Maybe he'll think twice about doing it again. And P.S. Cocoa is doing great ! She misses you.

 

No I do not drive a red car.
I think everyone misunderstood what I said or maybe I said it wrong. My point was not directed at whether he was right or wrong, it was directed that it was not your business to confront him. This is NC, not New York. It's different here.
What did you solve by sticking your nose in his business? You risked a confrontation with a stranger that had no chance of ending nicely.
You called Lowes - I would not disagree with that move. But I strongly disagree with confronting him. The guy was probably already on the defensive if he was paged in the store.


Yes - I would leave my dog for a few minutes with the windows open because clearly I would know the circumstances. I would not put him in any danger, and I doubt this guy meant to either. He said his air was on first, the window was open - you may or may not be under exaggerating the distance. It's a dog, not a kid. I stand by my remarks -

 

Clueless, just clueless.

 

I'm not clueless - but apparently everyone else is an idiot.

 

Zoo - maybe you could make copies of the animal/heat info and if you see this type of situation again, leave it on their window? That way maybe they would think more about how even 'a little while' in the car can affect their pet. :x

 

Why do people take their pets to the store anyway? I saw a man at FL with a puppy in his cart. ...So who ever got the cart next had the luxury of placing their food where the dogs *** had been.

But we are in NC not NY ... so I didn't say anything. :mrgreen: I just added him to my Stupid List for the day.

 

There you go - that's good common sense. Probably won't go over well around here.

 

I like that idea. ... probably a lot of people are unaware of the dangers anyway.

 

I do think that you always have to decide whether it is a good idea to confront someone like this. You wouldn't want to do it with nobody else around etc. I do agree that he probably would not want to hurt his dog and really believed that it would be fine. I understand him going on the defensive because of this. However, his mistake was flying off the handle. He should have just said thanks for the information and driven away. If zoo confronted him in a friendly way I don't think he should have tried to essentially assault her by throwing something at the car. NY - I do understand what you are trying to say and I am sure there are other folks who feel the same way you do as well.

 

Thanks VG, you're my new best friend....

 

She did not intend, from her post, to directly confront the man. He happened to come out while she was relaying the vehicle info to Lowes. He was the buttwipe that lost it. If he wasn't doing anything wrong.............why'd he freak out? But you go right ahead thinking 3 inches is enough airflow for any creature stuck in a hot car. I sure hope you don't have any kids...............it was just a few minutes...........right? :?

 

Oh I thought she was having him paged so he would come out and she could talk to him. (got to go reread) And honestly, I doubt NY is suggesting it is okay to leave anyone or any animal in a hot car. You run a risk of confronting a crazy person and possibly getting hurt so sometimes you have to weigh the situation. Zoo could have really gotten hurt if she wasn't in her car and I think that's more of what NY was getting at.