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???