I am a pet owner, and I take my "kids" with me everywhere I go, partly because I like the company and partly because they demand to ride along whenever they can. I consider myself a responsible and caring pet owner and was horrified to learn that I may not be as conscientious as I initially thought.
This past Sunday, both my German shepherds accompanied me to Costco. At 10:45 a.m., before turning the AC and engine off, I did fill the car up at the Costco gas pump. I parked my vehicle in the shade as I always do, cracked all four of my windows in my car by at least 8 inches, and headed into the store. When I emerged from the store at 11:14 a.m., I immediately noticed a woman standing in front of my vehicle as my dog was voicing his disapproval.
Assuming the woman was parked next to me and intimidated by my dog's vocal objection I told her it was OK to approach and that he was friendly.
What ensued was in essence a verbal reprimand from her accusing me of, to name a few things, animal cruelty, irresponsible pet ownership and abuse of animals. She further accused me of being subject to arrest and that what I was doing was illegal.
The first thing I did when I got home was to educate myself as to what the laws are in Utah governing pets in cars. This is what I found.
Utah is one of those states that does not have laws about leaving your pets in hot cars. On the local level, I found an article published in a local news outlet on June 19 which addressed this problem. Two things jumped out at me.
The first was that citizens should act if an animal is distressed. No definition of "distressed" was suggested, which seemed vague and not very informative. However, I would think that a dog barking at someone approaching their vehicle does not sound like distress, but rather a warning to step away. The other point of interest was the civic responsibility of a "good Samaritan" under these circumstances.
In Utah it is illegal to approach a vehicle even if an animal is distressed or to break a window. The article clearly outlined the responsibilities afforded to a good Samaritan, which is to write down the registration of the vehicle, inform the store manager if an announcement is possible and most importantly to call animal control.
I am admitting that my actions toward my pets after reading studies and educating myself may be borderline, but what I object to more than anything is being treated like a criminal by someone that clearly has no idea about animal behavior or the laws governing what are offenses punishable by law in our state.
I am sure there are many other good pet owners like myself out there that have been accosted by these seemingly "good Samaritans" who have been verbally reprimanded and made to feel like criminals by someone that is both uninformed and not acting within their rights. I will concede that after this I will not be taking my "kids" along to Costco as I do not wish to have them placed in harm’s way by someone that instead of helping the situation made it worse.
As pet owners, I think more studies are needed to determine what constitutes distress, what breeds are more prone to heat exhaustion and more studies showing temperatures in cars relative to outside temperatures when a vehicle is both ventilated and parked in the shade. I am all about being responsible and accountable, but to be treated in this manner when the accusations cannot be further from the truth is hurtful and unfounded.
Miriam Aiazzi is a citizen activist and a pet lover.