It’s that time of year again – temperatures are rising and the police are starting to receive calls about dogs left in hot cars. Police officers in Halifax recently issued $1500 in tickets to owners who had left dogs in their parked cars – and the hot season is just beginning.
It goes without saying but bears repeating: DO NOT LEAVE YOUR DOG ALONE IN YOUR CAR. It takes very little time for the temperature to reach dangerous levels – even when parked in the shade with the windows cracked.
Recently some erroneous information was circulating on social media indicating that it was now legal to break a car window to save a dog in distress. The RCMP have recently clarified this information and have confirmed that it is NOT legal to break the window. If you see a dog in distress you should call 911 immediately so officers can respond. You can also go into nearby stores and try to have the owner paged.
For more information on dogs left in hot cars see this SPCA article.