WHAT WOULD YOU HAVE DONE? - “She watched the dog yelping and pawing at the windows, then saw him curl up on the floor, apparently exhausted and over-heated.”
The scenario: It’s a hot day. You see a dog left alone in a parked car with no ventilation. You call the authorities but no one shows up.
The Question: Are you justified in smashing the window? Keep in mind that it may be illegal in that jurisdiction for a private citizen to take such action.
Well, it turns out that a woman in Albuquerque named Susanne Jones noticed a dog left alone in a parked car on a hot day. The dog appeared to be in distress so Jones called the police who in turn referred her to local animal control. After no officials responded, Jones took matters into her own hands, smashed the car window, and rescued the dog. Here’s more from kob.com:
Susanne said she waited 40 minutes, then took matters into her own hands. She said she took a “Club” locking device out of her car and smashed the rear window on the driver’s side to let some air in for the dog.
Then the police arrived. Then an Animal Welfare officer. Then Cissy King came out of the doctors office and a police officer told her she had broken the law by leaving her dog locked in the car, but the case was more complicated than that.
“The officer asked if I wanted to file a counter-complaint,” said Cissy outside the courtroom. “I said about what, and he said about the lady who broke your window. I said absolutely not - no - I’m sure she did what she felt like she needed to do at the time.”
“She came over when everything was finished and thanked me for doing what I did<” Susanne said. “She asked if there was anything she could do to thank me and I said just please don’t leave your dog in the car again.”
There may have been some issues as to the legality of the woman’s actions, but in the end, a dog’s life may have been saved. Even the owner of the dog acknowledged that Jones did the right thing. Click here for the full story and a video.
