Saturday, June 2

Really....cuz I can't make this stuff up!!

Today I was determined I needed a little time off the ranch...guess you'd say I had "Ranch Fever!" So I loaded up the truck the car and I headed to town for what I thought would be a delightful day of retail therapy, maybe a smoothie and a container full of meal worms (for the blue birds:)

First stop---the Farmer's Market, it was such fun to wander the streets looking at all the fresh produce and many flowers and craft items folks had for sale.


Next stop, a favorite arts and crafts store....here my plan was to find some cool lawn/garden decoration---mission failed. This is where my day just turned to crud.  
As I was walking to my car I could hear a small dog barking. Well I proceeded to look around for this dog. I found this vehicle with the windows rolled down at least 1/2 way (good thing) the dog that was barking was in the back of this car in a pet porter surrounded by groceries. Now it wasn't 100 degrees outside but it was warm, especially for an animal sitting in a car inside of a kennel.


 You can't tell from this shot but the car is in the corner of this strip mall where there was very little breeze--  I monitored this situation for 25 minutes and decided to call the police. I was connected to Animal Control, told them the situation and they were sending an officer to investigate. I was so upset sitting there waiting for Animal Control. I am sure I burned a hole through everyone that walked by wondering if they were the owners.  I was on the phone with my mom when a middle age woman, and what looked like her mother and a 8-10 year old child wandered out of a nearby restaurant  and headed to the car with the dog barking inside, by this time the dog had been barking for at least 40 minutes. I asked her politely if she had a dog in the kennel (duh) and I told her I was concerned about the well being of the dog since it was barking and sitting in the midday sun. Her response to me was...oh, he's okay he just hates being in the kennel and that's why he is barking. I asked if he had water...oh yes, do you want to see? I told her yes, she lifted up the hatched and opened the kennel to a panting dog (it was a Boston Terrier) This is when I saw the kennel surrounded by all of her groceries but I didn't actually see any water in the kennel.   I thanked her for showing me and told her I was just concerned. She shut the kennel dog, shut the hatch and proceeded to head into the arts and crafts store. Her last her words to me were---well you don't think I would hurt my dog do you? 
Fast forward 15 minutes...I went and sat in my car and thought I would wait for Animal Control. Once they arrived I went and talked to the officer and told her my concerns and told her the folks were in the arts and crafts store. The officer told me she would take a temperature reading inside the car and check on the well being of the dog. I was grateful and headed back to my car to observe. Once the officer took the temp reading she immediately went into the store to locate the owner. They walked to the car where the officer asked her to remove the dog from the kennel, which was really panting now. I could tell the officer was giving her some information concerning the dog's health and was writing on her pad whether it was a ticket or not I do not know.
Maybe I overstepped my boundaries with this dog....but I was concerned. Would I call Animal Control again??  YOU BETCHA!!
I left the scene so I have no idea what happened next, I just pray that the women got a clue and leaves the dog at home next time.
My next stop was Walmart....walking up to the entrance what do I find but 2 dogs sitting in 2 seperate hot cars barking!! I just shook my head in amazement...Fortunately, both cars were gone when I came out of the store a few minutes later otherwise Animal Control would have received another call from me.

I decided the next time I need to get off the ranch I'll just walk around the section...people sure can be stupid!!

So what would you have done???

7 comments:

  1. Woo Hoo to you for calling!! As you may know I have separation anxiety and so MOM can not leave me home by myself. I don't destroy anything, but MOM is concerned because I get so worked up. That's why I go to daycare, I love it there. ANYWAY... When it get's to 60 or 65 degrees MOM does not leave me in the car. She does her shopping in the cool wee hours of the morning so I can go with her. MOM knows I LOVE to be in the car. Just love it! But she would never leave me in one windows down or not when it is even just warm outside. Thanks for doing what you did.
    Blessings,
    Goose

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  2. she obviously needed a wake-up call and your concern didn't do it! hopefully animal control's will shake her loose!

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  3. It's a tough one. I usually monitor and then call animal control. I've found that confronting people that would leave their dogs in car is usually futile.

    I once had an argument in front of our local Sam's Club with a man who had his dog in the open back of a pick-up truck in a winter rain storm. He told me the dog liked it. I told him to put the dog in the cab and his kids in the back. :-0 yes I did.

    If we EVER have the dogs with us in car when we need to go into the store, one of us stays in the car with the dogs. That goes for traveling too. Like when we go on vacation and have to stop to pee. We get out, let the dogs potty, then one goes in and one stays with the dogs and then we switch.

    The bottom line is people are stupid. You did the right thing.

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  4. oh yes, i would have called the animal control as should anyone who sees this. dogs have no sweat glands and the heat can give them brain damage easily. i always want to put the person it that car and leave her thee for 40 minutes. good girl, you did the right thing. car temps get really hot fast even if its in the shade. leave the pets home for petes sake.

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  5. I say; Good for you! People can be extremely stupid and a lot of people don't deserve to have pets at all.

    I think the animal control people should have locked the lady in the back of her own car for about an hour so she could see what it was like. Maybe that's a little harsh but I think it would solve the problem pretty quickly. People that don't care for their pets properly make me very angry.

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  6. I would have called! I have called the police and animal control at least twice. Both times the dogs were in cars where the windows were only cracked maybe two inches. I say the police give tickets both times and then I left. I've also called when I've seen dogs used for security and it's really hot and I can't see any water for them. It's better to be safe then sorry. I have an uncle that lives in some apartments here in Orlando. His neighbors upstairs had a dog. My uncle noticed the dog out on the screen porch, but didn't think anything of it. Then the dog was just laying there. The maintenance people were called because the dog was not moving. The poor dog was dead. The people had skipped out on their lease and locked the dog on the porch without any water. The police were then trying to track down the owner. I hope they were found! I always pay attention to dogs because they are helpless in these situations.

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  7. Good for you!! I don't understand why some people even get pets!

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Thanks for dropping by...I would love to hear what you think of our adventures, so please feel free to add a comment.