In many ways they are just like kids. A Bishon is small, quick, and it would be easy to lose site of them. Thank you for sharing your cautionary story. A dog slipping unnoticed into a hot car isn’t something I’d ever thought about before and hadn’t been mentioned in this thread.

This is why it is so important that people contact their local legislators and ask them to pass a law similar to the one California passed. I urge you to contact everyone.

Here’s how you can do it:

To contact your Congressmen and women click here:

https://forms.house.gov/wyr/welcome.shtml

and enter your state and zip code. The website will show you contact information of who your local representatives are.

To contact your Senators click here:

http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

and select the state you live in and the website will give you the contact information you need.

Then send them the information about SB1806 on this page:

http://tinyurl.com/ywcgw5

Write a brief introduction and let them know you think your city and state need a bill similar to SB 1806 in California. That it protects dogs left in hot cars that would otherwise suffer heat stroke and be injured or perish. That as it is now when you’ve tried to report a dog in this condition neither the sheriff or animal control were willing to help and something needs to be done about this.

Don’t forget to contact your local city council people. Ask your Mayor for help. Be a squeaky wheel. You can call, email or send a letter. Just do something to get the ball rolling. Please take the time to do this. The animals are counting on you.

That way instead of breaking laws you could save the dogs and without fear of being prosecuted for anything.

Find out who within the city parks and recreation department or whoever runs the beach parking lots and seek permanent signs to be posted in the beach parking lots reminding owners of the dangers. If the city won’t pay for them start a fundraiser offer to donate the money. Even better, if possible, ask for a local ordinance banning leaving dogs in cars at or near the beach during certain hours when the heat is at its worst.

I second your question about what to do when faced with this situation in areas where police and/or security forces are not readily available. Last summer I found out that the Costco I was shopping at has no PA system, and therefore they could not call the owner who’d left their dog to perish in the car for over an hour in the mid-day sun.

I work in a beach resort town that is very busy in the summer months, yet we rarely have law enforcement nearby. The nearest detachment is 20 minutes away and covers a large rural area. When I see a dog in a car (hot day or not), I go over and see how the dog is doing, and decide what to do from there. I’ve not had to bust a window yet, but I’d do it if I thought it was necessary. I would think it safe to assume that if/when you do break into someones car, you’re breaking the law, and should expect to have to deal with the consequences. I have a client who busted a car window to rescue a dog last summer. The dog was obviously suffering and the owners had not responded to multiple calls over the stores PA system. She had quite an interesting ‘chat’ with the owner afterwards but by that time the cops had arrived. No charges were laid against her or the dog owner.

I’ve created a little postcard about the dangers of Heat Stroke to leave on the windshield in an effort to provide some education for the owner. It has a little table that shows how the temps inside the car will rise depending on the outdoor temps. The numbers are quite alarming. The postcard also lists early and advanced symptoms of Heat Stroke, and what to do if you see them. I carry them with me at all times in my purse, and I have them available for free in my shop. Having the pet shop in a small town, the local kids like to visit here, so I also pass them out to them to slap on windshields of cars with dogs trapped inside. That way we’re educating the next generation of pet owners BEFORE they go and do something reckless.

If I were you I would also call the police department and ask them if they would come out to aid a dog in distress or how best to handle a situation like this. If they say they would come I’d even ask for the officer’s name so that if you ever needed to call you can say that you spoke to officer so-and-so and they suggested you contact them. I am assuming that most likely they would ask you to call the non-emergency number and not 911. I would also ask them if you would be charged for breaking into a car to remove a stricken animal.

If your city or state doesn’t have a law to protect animals in this situation you could make a copy of the California law and send it to your local house or senate representatives asking them to pass the same or similar legislation enabling police to act when dogs are in danger.

You could also approach the city council, parks department or whoever is in charge of the beach you speak of and ask if signs can be posted in the parking lot reminding people not to leave dogs unattended in their parked cars. If there is a law prohibiting this the code could be included on the sign.

The California law is statewide, not just for urban or shopping areas. It affords protection to any dog regardless of where the car is parked.

If we didn’t have the law here in California and I were to see a dog at the beach or in the country and it appeared to be a life and death situation I would call Animal Control and the Police. If nobody was willing to take action I would call the local media and raise public awareness to the situation… Especially if it appeared to be a matter of life and death.