It’s a sad reality, but each year dozens of children and pets die when they are either purposely or accidentally left inside hot cars.
Lower Saucon Township officials are doing their part to help prevent these tragedies from occurring locally by reminding residents not to leave kids and dogs in hot cars in the township’s 2016 summer newsletter.
“Remember–NEVER leave pets unattended in a hot vehicle with the windows rolled up,” the newsletter advises. “If you leave a pet in a car, roll the windows down enough for ventilation and provide a dish of water. (It is) better to leave the pet at home rather than in a sweltering car.”
Children should not be left unattended in a car under any circumstances.
Even with windows cracked or partly rolled down, the temperature inside a car on a sunny day with an outside temperature of 80 degrees can climb to about 100 degrees in just 10 minutes, and to about 115 degrees after 30 minutes.
A chart shows how quickly the temperature can rise inside a car on a sunny day. Dogs left in a car on a warm day can suffer health consequences and even die.
Although children are protected, Pennsylvania currently has no law that specifically criminalizes leaving a dog in a hot car, meaning it is up to local police to determine on a case by case basis whether doing that constitutes an act of animal cruelty.
One local establishment that is often a destination for people and their four-legged friends is Giant Food Store in the Creekside Marketplace shopping center at 1880 Leithsville Road.
But unless the dog that accompanies its owner to the supermarket is a service canine, pups need to stay outside while their owners are inside the store.
After a customer reported seeing a dog left alone in a car for about 45 minutes Saturday, a store manager Sunday said that since Giant doesn’t maintain the store’s parking lot, it is not responsible when a customer leaves a dog in a hot car.
However, he said, the store will assist anyone who brings such a situation to staff’s attention with contacting township police, and even help call them if necessary.
The Northampton County 911 Center’s non-emergency number is 610-759-2200.
The store doesn’t typically page a customer to the service desk if someone reports that they have a dog in their car in the parking lot, the manager said.
As of June 2016 the bill has not become law.
A small dog left inside a car with its windows rolled down on Saturday attracted the attention of a concerned passerby at Giant in Lower Saucon Township. The woman alerted the store staff, but nothing was done, as the parking lot is not part of Giant’s property. The store staff can and will help contact local authorities, however.
