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If you leave your dog in a locked car on a warm summer day in Boston, firefighters and police are not going to stand idly by

Boston Fire Department spokesman Steve MacDonald reports:

Called to car parked in front of 88 Beacon St. at 12:38pm with an unattended dog inside. Was called in by a Traffic Enforcement Officer. We unlocked the car using tools we carry for such things. No damage to the out of state car. Dog did not appear to be in distress. Unknown how long unattended. Animal Rescue took procession of dog.

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Comments

I've come to believe my fellow humans are just getting more ignorant by the day. How many times are we hearing of young children locked in hot cars, let alone animals.

Who does this? Who is that ignorant? I hope they publish the persons name since they obviously need shaming.

Oh ya, I hope they don't go to gently on the car either - just smash those windows.

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we should allow the owner's insurance company to say to them "Sorry - you left Fido in your car - no comprehensive claim for you."

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Here you go Ms. jones, here is $1,000 to fix those damages. Oh by the way, here is a $10,000 fine for being cruel to an animal. Just give us 9k and we can call it even.

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BFD was able to use car-unlocking tools to open the car without damaging it.

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As I understand it, that's the usual "hidden" damage when you use a slim-jim on late model cars. A co-worker of mine locks the keys in his car an average of once every six months. Not only does he admit that every time it happens, but he grouses about the resulting damage to his locks.

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They do have a "wedge" now, which basically is jammed into the door frame, sometimes with an inflatable device which creates a gap where someone can then stick something in to open the lock. This usually causes less damage than a slim Jim, nut it all depends on the lock and how much jimmying around you are doing in there.

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I'm in favor of having the owners sit in a hot car with their windows up for a good amount of time.

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This answers the parlor game question, How many firefighters does it take to rescue a dog.

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See the suburbans in the background? BPD SWAT...

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SWAT vehicle looks a bit small to be a Suburban. Maybe something like an Envoy?

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Wasn't it like mid-seventies today? And cloudy/raining? Idk...maybe this was from yesterday. Maybe the person who called observed that the dog had been in the car for a long time. But if it was today it seems like a little overkill. I once left my dog in a car for ten minutes--in New Hampshire, at 6pm on a cool day in June and when I got back to the car the parking attendants told me that someone had threatened to call the cops. Again...I understand the impetus but...

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and you choose to take your dog out with you, then don't be so lazy as to leave Fido in the car. And if you're going to a place that doesn't allow dogs, then just leave Fido at home.

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If it is dangerously hot and I cannot manage to crack a window and confine my errands to a short period, then yes. If it's a mid-seventies cloudy day, then there is no intrinsic harm in leaving the dog in the car. And it has nothing to do with laziness. On the day I described we'd spent all day hiking in the woods--the happiest dog day ever. He was exhausted, filthy and happy. By your lights I should've left him at home all day because we planned to stop for a slice of pizza?

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I'm not 100% on this, but I think I saw the video for this a few days ago, courtesy of someone on FB. I'm not sure this necessarily occurred yesterday.

Secondly, yesterday was closer to 80's, but even in the 70's, the insides of a closed car can still hit three digits over a long enough period... which... I don't know if you've noticed, but municipal workers do not arrive or work swiftly. If a fire engine can arrive, stay by your car long enough for firemen to approach your car, examine the situation, call it in, wait for instructions, relay instructions to your fellow firemen, implement...well you were not taking a quick trip to grab a slice.

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I wondered if it was the same at first, I saw the one the other day. It was a white Volvo in the N. End, on Hanover St.

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t.

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I think I get your point: it's ok for you to do it, but not for someone else to do it.

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As soon as the sun peeks out from behind the clouds, the temperature in the car soars very quickly. Doesn't really matter if it's 70 or 90 out.

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Mid 70's plus high humidity can make for bad conditions inside of a car. Granted today wasn't a bright and sunny day so the temperature inside the car likely didn't climb as fast as it could have.

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In the mid-seventies, it takes a car about 30 minutes to reach 100 degrees and in 60 minutes it can get to excess of 120 degrees.

Granted these numbers were the result of direct sunlight, but they were also taken with lower humidity ratings. Also, add in the effect of wearing a fur coat and having no sweat glands on most of their body and dogs aren't going to do well in a humid car.

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Here's what the National Weather Service has to say about the temp inside a car:
http://www.crh.noaa.gov/lsx/?n=excessiveheat-automobiles

On a 74 degree day, the temp inside the car gets over 100 in 15 minutes. They also show that cracking the window doesn't prevent dangerous heat levels.

The people reporting the dog had no idea how long the dog had been in the car when they encountered it.

If they can't roll down the window, don't leave them in the car. Tie the dog up outside the store. Or get a harness for the car so they don't jump out and roll the windows all the way down.

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it weren't technically against the law to tie dogs up on the sidewalk and/or bring them into stores

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doesn't help either. With the windows half way down, with 80 degrees and sun it will get hot as hell in a vehicle just sitting there.

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It is so nice to see the officer doing her job by reporting it the city is lucky to have officers who care and it is not only about giving out tickets!!!! And stop talking about the tempature if they left the dog in today when it was 72 what makes you think this person would not leave the dog in the car if it is 102?

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The best part of the photo is the meter maid "writing" out the ticket while all this is happening.

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I frequently will leave the dog in the truck running with the AC on full blast, but I'm always nervous now that someone won't notice it's running until they put a brick through the window. I'm all for tarring and feathering negligent pet owners, but please double check before grabbing the pitch forks.

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And, if your AC shuts off for some reason? It can happen. Your dog will be dead in no time!
I

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And let me say again--I am an animal-loving, totally over-protective dog owner (though the term "fur baby" does give me the willies). But this is starting to sound like the kind of hysteria that has led worries about fetal alcohol syndrome to morph into pregnant women being excoriated for having a single glass of wine. The dog would not have been "dead in no time." It was raining for most of the day. The temps were in the low 70s. The dog was not in distress. And I'm presuming actually that the meter maids could have told how long the car had been parked by the time on the meter. I do appreciate that officials note and are aware of these things and it was probably good that they acted but it still seems like jumping the gun to me.

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both the person who first called, the fire department and possibly the animal rescue league, who took care of the dog, may have a difference of opinion.

Are you ok if it was a child left locked in the car? No? Than what is the difference? Both are living beings.

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that I'm talking about. Sorry, but a child is not a dog. If you saw a neighbor walking a child on a leash with a prong collar, you'd probably be a little worried, no? If your friend said in casual conversation "We keep Becky crated when we're at work, otherwise she chews on the furniture and pees on the bath mat" you might be concerned. If they left a child at home all day UNCRATED you'd think it strange (and probably illegal) right? And if you went into your local coffee shop and half of the patrons were sharing their tables with their dogs? Do you see the difference yet or are you really trying to make the case that we should always treat dogs the way we treat children?

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and your "convenience", you leave him in a running truck. Thus creating unnecessary pollution and breaking anti-idling laws in the process.

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This world is gonna be just fine! Thirty-one comments about a DOG that lived! Priorities for fellow humans are squarely in place.

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