New Bedford Guide Your Guide to New Bedford and South Coast, MA
Last year in Massachusetts there were a handful of stories about people who encountered a pet alone in a car. As temperatures rise and summer approaches, the danger, and risk to pets increases. The Greenhouse Effect means that the inside temperature of the car is much higher than the outside temperature. Without ventilation, a dog is at risk of heatstroke or death as they do not sweat like humans, but cool down through breathing.
Incredibly, some of the dogs found in these cars had no ventilation and the car’s windows were rolled up. In a few of these cases, police were called because the dog was in the car for extended periods of time and the owners were cited. In one case, a window was smashed when the two dogs were showing signs of a medical emergency.
It flies in the face of common sense, but these cases aren’t that uncommon, sadly enough. Even more shocking is that people have left their toddlers sleeping inside their car with windows rolled up while they did chores. A few years back, a Cape Cod woman got in trouble for leaving her 3-month old toddler in the sweltering heat of her car while she went inside the Twin River Casino to gamble for an hour and a half.
It is a sad truth that in this day and age we have to remind people to use common sense. We have to place “WARNING!” labels on hot coffee cups, “Do not hold the wrong end” stickers on chainsaws, “Remove child before folding” tags on strollers, and cite people for texting while driving.
Thankfully, Massachusetts Law allows bystanders to intervene without legal repurcussion.
“A bystander, in addition to animal control officials, law enforcement, or firefighters, may enter the vehicle if reasonably necessary to prevent imminent danger or harm to the animal. Any action by a person or first responder would follow checking to see if the door was locked, calling 911, and making an effort to locate the owner. The person must stay with the animal until law enforcement arrives, and is immune from liability resulting from the animal’s removal.”
Massachusetts State Police photo.
